!li 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


BX  9841  .C62  1874 

Clarke,  James  Freeman,  181G 

1888. 
Shelf....      Steps  of  belief;  or, 

Rational  Thr  i  c;t  i  an  i  t  v 


STEPS    OF  ^E^IEF; 


RATIONAL   CHRlgTTiil^jii^^IAINTAlNED 


ATHEISM,    FREE    RELIGION,    AND 
ROMANISM. 


BY 

JAMES    FREEMAN    CLARKK 


BOSTON: 
AMERICAN    UNITARIAN    ASSOCIATION. 
1874. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Ccngress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

THE   AMERICAN   UNITARIAN   ASSOCIATION, 

Id  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


Weite  Welt  und  breites  Leben, 
Langer  Jahre  redlich  Streben, 
Stets  getbrscht  und  stets  gegriindet, 
Nie  gesclilossen,  oft  geriindet, 
Aeltestes  bewahrt  mit  Treue, 
Freundlich  aufgefasstes  Neue, 
Heitern  Sinn  und  reine  Zwecke; 
Nun  !  man  kommt  wohl  eine  Strecke. 

GoTHE. 


FIFTH    EDITION. 


CAMtlKIDCK; 
PKESS   OF  JOHN    WILSON   AND  SOK. 


TO 

CCfje    fflcmorg 

OF 

JOHN      ALBION      ANDRE  V^ 

THIS     BOOK     IS     DEDICATED. 


INTRODUCTION. 


'TPHE  substance  of  this  volume  was  delivered 
last  winter,  to  the  Church  of  the  Disciples, 
in  Boston,  as  a  course  of  Lectures.  Most  of  it 
has  been  rewritten ;  but,  doubtless,  traces  of  the 
original  form  will  be  detected  by  the  discerning. 
Such  as  it  is,  I  inscribe  this  work  with  the  name 
of  one  whose  interest  in  these  themes  was  never 
weakened  by  the  cares  of  private  business,  or 
the  responsibilities  of  public  duty ;  whose  in- 
sight, courage,  honesty,  and  kindness  made  him 
dear  to  his  friends ;  and  whose  great  virtues 
will  always  illustrate  the  power  of  unsectarian 
and  practical  Christianity.  " 


CONTENTS. 


J[ntroduction 


JFi'rst  Step. 

FROM  ATHEISM  TO  THEISM. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.   How  do  we  know  that  we  have  a  Soul?  or,  Materi- 

alism  and  Immaterialism 3 

II.   Why  do  we  believe  in  God?  or,  The  Evidences  of 

Theism 29 

III.   The  Atheist's  Theory  of  the  Universe 52 

rV.  Imperfect  and  Perfect  Theism 73 


Swonti  Step. 

FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY. 

I.  The  Historic  Christ 97 

II.   Nothing  unnatural  in  Christ  or  in  Christianity.    .  118 

III.    Christianity  an  advance  on  Theism 138 

rV.   Some  Objections  to  Christianity  considered   .     .     .  168 


CONTENTS. 


QEl^trtJ  Step. 

« 

FROM  ROMANISM  TO   PROTESTANTISM. 

CHAP.  PACK 

I.   The  Idea  of  Romanism  and  of  Protestantism     .     .     197 
II.   The  Doctrines  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church  .     .     220 

III.  Priesthood    and    Ritual    of    the    Roman-Catholic 

Church 241 

IV.  Results  of  this  Discussion 259 


iFourllj  Step. 
FROM  THE   LETTER  TO   THE   SPIRIT. 

I.   Theology  and  Religion 2S1 

II.  The  Creed  of  Christendom 296 


FIRST    STEP. 


FROM  ATHEISM  TO   THEISM. 


"Deum  sempitenium,  omniscium,  omnipotentem,  k 
tergo  transeuntem,  vidi  et  obstupui." 

LiNNyEUS,  System  of  '.\Uure. 


STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 


CHAPTER  I. 

How   DO    WE   KNOW   THAT  WE   HAVE   A  SoUL ;     OR,  MATERIAL' 
ISM    AND    ImMATERIAHSM. 

A  CCORDING  to  the  oldest  and  most  general  view 
-*-  ^  of  human  nature,  man  consists  of  two  parts,  — 
soul  and  body ;  or  of  three  parts,  —  spirit,  soul,  and 
body.  The  soul,  however,  is  himself:  the  body  be- 
longs to  him.  He  is  essentially  soul :  the  body  is  his 
box  of  tools.  To  soul  belong  conscience,  will,  reason, 
love.  As  soul,  he  is  free :  as  soul,  dwelling  in  body, 
he  is  limited.  Body  helps  the  soul  and  is  its  servant ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  holds  it  in  and  shuts  it  up.  Soul 
aspires  upward  to  God  and  heaven  :  body  draws  it 
down  to  earth  and  time.  This  has  been  the  general 
belief  of  Chinese,  Persians,  Hindoos,  Greeks,  Romans, 
and  Jews,  —  in  ancient  times  and  in  modern  times, — 
of  Christians  and  Mohammedans,  of  savages  and  civil- 
ized, of  philosopher  and  peasant.  Almost  all  believe 
naturally  that  there  is  an  immaterial  principle  in  man, 
— -something  which  cannot  be  seen,  touched,  heaid, — 


4  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

something  not  to  be  perceived  by  the  senses,  but  only 
known  by  consciousness, — something  which  remains 
when  the  material  envelop  is  dissolved  and  separated, 
which  continues  as  a  disembodied  spirit  when  the 
body  has  returned  to  the  elements.  One  proof  of  this 
wide-spread  opinion  is  the  general  belief,  in  all  ages 
and  all  lands,  among  the  common  people,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  ghosts.  There  never  has  been  a  nation  or  age 
in  which  the  ignorant  have  not  believed,  more  or  less, 
in  the  possibility  of  ghosts.  But  if  there  is  nothing  in 
man  but  body,  nothing  can  possibly  remain  after  the 
body  is  dissolved.  If  one  believes,  therefore,  that  a 
ghost  is  possible.,  though  he  may  not  believe  that  one 
ever  returned,  he  must  believe  in  soul.  Hence  it 
appears  that  a  belief  in  soul  has  not  prevailed  among 
the  educated  and  learned  alone,  but  seems  to  have 
come  to  the  ignorant  and  uneducated  also,  by  a  kind 
of  instinct.  But  the  wisest  of  our  race  have  also  be- 
lieved in  soul,  since  they  have  believed  in  a  continued 
immortality  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body.  Socrates 
and  Plato  —  the  greatest  thinkers  of  antiquity  —  teach 
the  existence  of  soul  as  independent  of  body,  and  per- 
haps as  the  source  of  body.  The  great  religions  of  the 
world  have  taught  the  same,  —  those  of  ancient  Egypt, 
Greece,  Rome ;  those  of  Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Con- 
fucius, and  Mohammed.  All  have  agreed  in  the 
doctrine  that  man  consists  of  soul  as  well  as  of  body. 
They  have  taken  different  views  of  the  nature  of  soul ; 
but,  in  some  sense,  all  have  accepted  it. 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  5 

The  body  itself  is  something  more  than  matter. 
Particles  of  matter,  however  united,  do  not  by  them- 
selves, make  a  living  body.  Where  there  is  life 
and  growth,  making  a  living  body,  there  must  be  a 
living  soul  to  give  unity  to  these  elements.  The  par- 
ticles of  matter  in  every  human  body  come  and  go. 
We  have  none  of  the  material  atoms  in  our  body  to- 
day which  we  had  a  few  years  since.  From  whence, 
then,  does  the  unity  of  the  body  come }  What  con- 
tinually makes  of  these  elements  one  and  the  same 
body.?  Nothing  which  we  see,  —  nothing  which  the 
surgeon's  knife,  searching  every  organ,  can  discover, 
—  nothing  which  the  finest  chemical  analysis  can 
detect.  Yet  there  must  be  some  power  there,  gather- 
ing, moulding,  changing,  distributing  the  carbon, 
oxygen,  and  lime  ;  organizing  them,  and  preserving, 
year  after  year,  one  and  the  same  organic  form.  Com- 
pelled by  these  facts,  Aristotle  says,  that,  v^^hile  man 
has  a  rational  soul,  every  animal  has  a  living  soul, 
and  every  plant  a  vegetative  soul.  So  the  book  of 
Genesis  (in  chap.  I.,  verse  20)  says,  in  the  Hebrew, 
"  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  every  moving 
creature  that  has  a  soul."  Our  translators  apparently 
were  afraid  of  the  word,  and  said,  "  every  thing  that 
hath  life."  Again,  in  the  30th  verse,  the  Hebrew  reads  : 
"  Every  beast  of  the  field,  and  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
every  thing  that  creepeth  on  the  earth  wherein  there 
is  a  living  soul."  In  the  margin  of  our  Bibles,  the 
word  "  soul  "  is  sfiven  for  the  Hebrew  woi'd.    The  Bible 


b  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

was  not  afraid  to  give  a  soul  to  animals.  Whether  it 
is  an  immortal  soul  or  not,  is  another  question.  The 
souls  of  animals  may  be  immortal.  But  at  any  rate, 
wherever  there  is  life,  there  mus^  be  something  more 
than  matter,  —  something  which  no  mere  analysis  of 
matter  can  reach. 

The  language  of  Jesus  asserts  the  reality  of  the  soul, 
and  its  continued  existence  after  death.  He  says, 
"  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will  fore- 
warn you  whom  ye  shall  fear :  Fear  him,  which  after 
he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell ;  yea,  I  say 
unto  you,  fear  him."  The  apostle  speaks  of  "  fleshly 
lusts  which  war  against  the  soul."  Christ  is  called 
"  the  Shepherd  of  souls."  We  are  told  "  to  possess  our 
souls  in  patience,"  and  to  "  purify  our  souls  by  obey- 
ing the  truth."  Finally,  Paul  prays  that  our  whole 
"  spirit,  soul,  and  body  may  be  kept  blameless."  He 
also  makes  a  distinction  between  this  pi"esent  body  — 
the  life  of  which  comes  from  the  soul  —  and  the  future 
body,  which  shall  be  spiritual ;  that  is,  moulded  by, 
and  subject  to,  the  highest  principle  in  man.  Man  is 
a  soul,  according  to  the  New  Testament.  His  identity 
and  personality  are  in  his  soul.  His  soul  may  be 
drawn  down  by  his  body,  and  become  a  carnal  or 
merely  animal  soul ;  or  it  may  be  raised  up  by  the 
spiritual  part  into  communion  with  God,  devotion  to 
eternal  truth,  obedience  to  duty,  and  be  inspired 
through  and  through  by  faith,  hope,  and  love.     Then 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  7 

it  becomes  a  spiritual  soul.  Just  so,  the  body  may  be 
so  depraved  and  stupefied  as  to  have  only  a  sort  of 
vegetable  life,  and  the  soul  then  becomes  a  kind  of 
vegetable  soul ;  or  it  may  be  raised  up  until  it  becomes 
a  spiritual  body,  such  as  we  hope  to  have  in  the  other 
world.  Such  also  we  have  seen  glimpses  of  in  this 
world.  In  the  great  inspired  moments  of  life,  the 
spiritual  body  shines  out  even  here  ;  as  it  did  when 
they  looked  at  Stephen,  and  "  saw  his  face  as  it  bad 
been  the  face  of  an  angel." 

I  do  not  quote  these  passages  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  proofs  of  the  existence  of  the  soul.  I  only 
refer  to  them  as  part  of  the  history  of  opinion,  to 
illustrate  the  universal  belief  in  an  immaterial  prin- 
ciple which  informs  and  vitalizes  the  body.  The  most 
obvious  proof  of  its  existence,  and  that  which  has 
probably  produced  this  wide-spread  belief  in  the  soul, 
is  the  unity  of  all  organized  and  living  beings.  In 
such  beings,  all  the  parts  are  correlated,  to  use  an 
expression  taken  from  Kant.  This  philosopher  says, 
that,  in  a  living  body,  the  cause  of  the  mode  of  exist- 
ence of  each  part  is  contained  in  the  whole.  Death 
leaves  each  part  free  to  pass  through  changes  belong- 
ing to  itself  alone.  Cuvier  gives  a  similar  definition 
of  the  living  body.  Every  organized  being,  he  says, 
forms  a  whole ;  a  close  corporation  in  which  every 
part  acts  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  whole.  All 
its  organs  are  correlated  to  each  other.  If  it  is  a 
carnivorous  animal,  its  teeth,  its  claws,  its  organs  of 


O  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

motion,  its  senses,  its  digestive  organs,  are  adapted  to 
this  end.  A  living  body  grows,  not  by  juxtaposition 
(as  is  the  case  with  a  stone),  but  by  intra-susception, 
or  growth  from  within.  Life  is  a  power  which  resists 
chemical  laws,  which  begin  to  take  effect  on  the  body 
as  soon  as  death  arrives. '  Even  if  life  has  a  physical 
bjsis,  in  a  peculiarly  organized  substance,  this  does  not 
explain  the  unity  of  a  living  body.  What  carries  on 
that  which  may  be  called  "  the  vital  voi'tex,"  or  per- 
petual exchange  of  particles ;  the  old  being  taken 
away,  and  new  ones  put  in  their  place  "i  There  is  a 
unity  to  every  organized  and  living  body,  which  is  not 
in  the  separate  parts,  nor  in  the  separate  parts  taken 
together.  It  is  nothing  which  the  senses  can  perceive, 
which  chemistry  can  detect,  —  nothing  possessing  ma- 
terial properties.     Then  it  is  not  any  thing  material. 

It  may  be  said  that  we  find  occasionally  an  apparent 
unity  in  a  physical  body,  in  which  the  particles  come 
and  go,  but  the  same  form  remains ;  and  yet  where  no 
one  suspects  the  existence  of  a  soul.  For  example,  a 
cloud  sometimes  remains  stationary  over  the  top  of  a 
mountain,  preserving  the  same  form,  while  all  the  par- 
ticles of  aqueous  vapor  of  which  it  is  composed  are 
rushing  into  it  on  one  side,  and  out  of  it  on  the  other. 
So,  there  are  found  on  the  surface  of  a  glacier,  deep 
wells  called  moidins^  which  always  keep  the  same 
position,  though  the  particles  of  ice  are  moving  steadily 
on,  day  by  day,  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  feet  every 
twenty-four  hours.     But  in  these  cases  the  unity  comes 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  9 

from  external  physical  forces,  which  can  be  observed. 
When  the  aqvieous  vapor,  in  an  invisible  state,  is  car- 
ried by  the  wind  against  the  side  of  the  mountain,  it  is 
obliged  to  rise  in  order  to  pass  over  it.  When  it  reaches 
a  certain  height,  the  temperature  is  such  that  it  is  pre- 
cipitated, and  becomes  visible.  Passing  on,  it  crosses 
the  summit,  descends  on  the  other  side,  and  arrives  at 
a  higher  temperature  as  it  descends  the  mountain  side, 
which  causes  it  to  evaporate,  or  become  invisible. 
External  forces  produce  these  results.  But  no  external 
forces  create  or  preserve  the  unity  of  the  living  body. 
That  is  something  acting  on  it  from  within  ;  and  this 
something  escapes  all  the  tests  which  detect  physical 
facts  and  laws. 

Nevertheless,  there  has  almost  always  been  a  minor- 
ity which  has  taken  a  different  view,  and  declared  that 
there  was  nothing  in  man  but  matter,  and  the  results  of 
matter.  The  Sadducees  among  the  Jews,  the  Epicu- 
reans among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  Materialists 
in  modern  times,  have  so  thought.  They  argue  in  this 
way  ;  "  We  are  certain  of  the  existence  of  matter,  but 
not  certain  of  the  existence  of  any  thing  else.  We 
know  that  we  have  a  body :  we  do  not  know  that  we 
have  a  soul.  The  existence  of  soul  is  therefore  an 
hypothesis  ;  and  an  unnecessary  one,  because  all  men- 
tal phenomena  may  be  accounted  for,  as  resulting  from 
matter.  If  body  can  separate  blood  into  bone  and 
muscle ;  if  it  can  digest  food,  and  make  chemical 
compounds  of  'the  air,  —  why  can  it  not  also  produce 


lO  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

thought  and  feeling?  If  the  liver  can  secrete  bile,  why 
jnay  not  the  brain  secrete  ideas  ?  Till  we  find  out  all 
that  body  can  do,  and  reach  its  limit,  why  think  that 
there  is  anything  more?  Let  us  be  contented  with 
one  cause  until  more  are  found  to  be  necessary." 

Certain  facts  of  experience  seem  also  to  confirm  the 
views  of  Materialists.  For  example,  when  the  body  is 
well  and  strong,  the  thoughts  and  feelings  are  also 
sound  and  healthy ;  when  the  body  is  sick  and  weak, 
the  mind  is  weakened  too.  When  the  body  grows  old 
and  feeble,  the  memory  is  impaired,  the  judgment  is 
less  vigorous,  the  feelings  grow  torpid.  When  the 
body  dies,  there  is  nothing  more  seen  or  known  of  the 
man.  "  As  far  as  we  know,  the  man  has  also  come  to 
an  end,"  says  the  Materialist ;  denying,  of  course,  all  the 
accounts  of  spiritual  appearances.  A  stone  falls  on 
your  head,  and  a  little  bit  of  the  skull  presses  on  the 
brain.  All  thought  immediately  stops,  and  remains 
suspended,  until  the  surgeon  comes  and  trepans  the 
skull,  and  removes  the  pressure.  Instantly  thought, 
feeling,  will  return.  "  Does  not  this  show  that  the  soul 
is  the  result  of  the  body?  "  asks  the  Materialist. 

"  By  no  means,"  replies  the  Immaterialist.  "  It 
only  proves,  that,  while  the  soul  is  connected  with  the 
body,  it  cannot  do  its  work  without  it.  Deprive  a 
skilful  carpenter  of  his  tool-chest,  and  he  becomes 
helpless :  he  can  do  nothing.  Docs  that  prove  that 
the  carpenter  is  the  result  of  his  tool-chest?  The  body 
is  the  tool-chest  which  the  soul  uses ;  it  is  helpless 
without  it :  but  it  does  not  follow  from  that  that  the 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  II 

soul  is  the  result  of  the  body.     That  the  soul,  in  this 

world,  can  do  nothing  without  its  body,  no  more  proves 

that  the  soul  comes  from  the  body,  than  the  fact  that 

a    surgeon   cannot  operate   without   his    instruments, 

proves  the  surgeon  to  be  the  result  and  growth  of  his 

instruments.     The  soul  is  in  full  activity,  —  thinking, 

feeling,  acting.     An  extra  drop  of  blood  in  the  brain 

stops  all  this  thought  in  a  moment.    True.    And  so,  an 

astronomer  is  making  some  great  discovery  through  his 

telescope.     A  film  of  mist  comes  over  the  object-glass. 

His  discovery  stops  in  a  moment :  all  his  power  comes 

to  an  end.     But  you  would  not  say  that  the  astronomer 

was  the  result  of  the  telescope,  because  he  cannot  act 

without  his  telescope.     Why,  then,  argue  that  the  soul 

is  the  result  of  body,  because  it  cannot  act  without  the 

the  body  .'*  * 

0 

*  It  has  been  said  that  these  analogies  are  inadequate,  be- 
cause we  know  the  existence  of  the  carpenter  and  surgeon, 
but  do  not  know  the  existence  of  soul.  If  the  object  of  mj 
illustration  was  to  frove  the  existence  of  soul,  the  objection 
would  be  valid.  But  it  is  not :  it  is  to  answer  the  objection  to 
its  existence  drawn  from  the  facts  which  show  the  dependence 
of  soul  on  body.  The  Materialist  argues  that  because  the 
phenomena  of  thought,  &c.,  defend  on  the  condition  of  the 
body,  they  must  be  the  result  of  body.  I  reply  that  this 
is  not  necessary,  because,  in  other  instances,  certain  man- 
ifestations depend  on  the  condition  of  certain  bodies ;  but 
we  know  that  they  do  not  result  from  them.  If  you  say  that 
A  can  never  appear  except  under  certain  conditions  of  B, 
and  therefore  A  is  a  result  or  a  property  of  B,  I  may  answer 
you  by  showing  that  C  never  appears  except  under  certain 
conditions  of  D,  and  yet  it  is  certain  that  C  is  not  the  result 
r.r   X). 


12  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  soul  is  like  a  musician  sitting  at  his  organ,  and 
drawing  from  it  delicate  and  delicious  music.  But 
the  instrument  grows  old,  —  the  bellows  refuse  to  sup- 
ply the  air  to  the  pipes  ;  the  pipes  crack  ;  the  keys  are 
out  of  joint.  The  musician  no  longer  can  play  as  be- 
fore. As  the  organ  gradually  grows  old,  weak,  dilapi- 
dated, out  of  tune,  the  power  of  the  musician  seems  to 
grow  weak  too.  At  last  the  organ  refuses  to  give  a 
sound.  It  stops.  The  musical  power  stops  too,  at 
the  same  time.  Do  you  infer  from  that,  that  the 
inusician  is  dead,  or  that  he  is  only  a  property  of 
the  organ.?  No.  Give  him  a  new  instrument,  and 
you  will  see  that  his  power  is  as  great  as  ever.  So, 
when  the  human  body  grows  old,  the  brain  becomes 
feeble  :  and  we  cannot  recollect  as  we  once  could  ;  we 
cannot  think  as  we  once  could.  That  is  because  the 
instrument  of  thought,  love,  mei^iory,  and  imagina- 
tion has  decayed :  that  is  all.  Give  the  soul  a  new 
instrument,  a  spiritual  body ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
its  power  is  the  same  as  ever. 

The  Materialist  says,  "  We  are  certain  of  the  exist- 
ence of  matter,  not  of  spirit.  We  know  that  we  have 
a  body :  we  do  not  know  that  we  have  a  soul."  I 
deny  the  fact.  I  assert  that  we  ai^e  no  more  certain  ol 
the  existence  of  body,  than  we  are  of  the  existence  ot 
soul.  All  we  know  of  body  *is  its  properties,  —  that 
it  is  hard  or  soft,  square  or  round,  sweet  or  bitter, 
colored  or  coloi'less,  fragrant  or  inodorous,  having  taste 
or  insipid.    Just  so  we  know  the  qualities  of  soul,  — 


FROM   ATHEISM   TO   THEISM.  I3 

that  it  is  something  which  thinks,  remembers,  hopes, 
fears,  loves  and  hates,  chooses  and  refuses.  I  am  just 
as  certain  that  I  love,  that  I  think,  that  I  choose,  —  as 
I  am  that  I  can  touch,  taste,  and  smell.  I  know  my 
thought  as  certainly  as  I  know  my  sensations. 

You  say,  we  know  what  matter  is,  but  do  not 
know  what  soul  is.  What,  then,  is  matter?  All  you 
can  say  is,  that  xvhich  lue  perceive  through  the  senses^ 
that  is  matter.  Matter  is  that  which  I  can  see  with 
my  eyes,  taste  with  my  tongue,  touch  with  my  hands, 
smell  with  my  nose,  hear  with  my  ears.  Very  well. 
But  I  cannot  touch  a  thought,  or  taste  a  feeling,  or 
smell  a  resolution,  or  measure  the  size  of  my  hope 
and  fear.  Then  these  are  not  matter,  but  something 
else.  Then  there  is  something  else  in  the  world  be- 
sides matter ;  and  something  of  whose  existence  we 
are  just  as  certain  as  we  are  of  the  existence  of  inatter. 

But  we  must  go  further.  I  am  more  certain  of  soul 
than  I  am  of  body.  Let  me  suppose  that  I  have  some 
bodily  substance  before  me,  —  say  an  apple.  I  per- 
ceive the  apple  ;  but  what  do  I  perceive  }  I  perceive, 
you  say,  something  round,  colored,  fragrant,  and  with 
taste.  By  no  means.  What  I  perceive  is  the  sensa- 
tion in  myself  of  roundness,  of  color,  of  fragrance. 
But  the  sensation  is  in  my  mind.  How  do  I  know 
that  there  is  something  round  and  red  and  sweet  out- 
side of  my  organs  of  taste  and  smell  and  touch  ?  All 
I  perceive  is  the  sensation.  But  the  sensation  is  not  in 
the  apple,  is  it?  the  sensation  is  in  myself.     How  do  I 


14  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

know  that  there  is  an  apple  outside  of  myself,  —  out- 
side of  my  sensation  ?  I  admit  that  I  do  know  it ;  but 
how  do  I  know  it  ?  I  answer  that  I  infer  it,  by  an  act 
of  reason.  I  I'eason  spontaneously  and  instinctively 
that  there  must  be  something  outside  of  me  to  give  me 
these  sensations,  because  I  cannot  create  them  in  my- 
self when  I  choose.  So  I  call  that  which  acts  upon 
me,  through  my  senses,  matter.  But  the  sensation, 
which  is  in  my  mind  and  is  immaterial,  is  more  cer- 
tain than  the  inference  from  the  sensation.  I  know 
the  sensation :  I  infer  the  existence  of  the  apple. 

No  doubt,  in  all  this,  the  mind  acts  irresistibly 
and  necessarily.  When  we  perceive  outward  phenom- 
ena, through  the  senses,  we  are  obliged  to  infer  that 
there  is  some  substance  in  which  they  inhere.  We  call 
that  substance  matter.  Exactly  in  the  same  way, 
when  we  perceive  inward  phenomena  through  con- 
sciousness ;  when  we  perceive  in  ourselves  thoughts 
and  feelings,  — we  are  obliged,  by  a  law  of  our  nature, 
to  infer  that  there  is  substance  in  which  they  inhere, 
and  we  call  it  soul  or  spirit.  And  as  all  the  phenom- 
ena or  qualities  of  body  are  different  from  those  of 
mind,  and  as  all  we  know  of  substances  is  through 
their  phenomena,  we  are  obliged  to  infer  that  the  sub- 
stances are  different ;  that  is,  that  there  are  two  sub- 
stances,—  body  and  soul. 

Therefore,  whenever  any  one  asks  me,  "  How  do  you 
know  that  there  is  such  a  fact  as  soul.'"'  I  may  imme- 
diately reply,  "  How  do  you  know  that  there  is  such  a 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  I5 

fact  as  body  ?  Tell  me  that,  and  I  will  tell  you  how  I 
know  that  there  is  soul."  All  that  you  know  of  body 
are  its  qualities,  properties,  or  phenomena ;  these 
qualities  are  all  sensible  qualities,  perceived  through 
the  senses.  As  these  qualities  are  all  linked  together 
and  co-ordinated,  you  are  obliged  to  suppose  something 
which  unites  them,  and  you  call  that  something  matter. 
Exactly  in  the  same  way,  all  I  know  of  mind  are  its 
qualities,  properties,  or  phenomena  ;  and  I  know  all 
of  these  through  my  consciousness.  I  do  not  see,  smell, 
or  taste  my  thoughts ;  but  I  am  conscious  of  my 
thoughts.  And  as  my  thoughts  and  feelings  and  will 
are  all  united  together  and  co-ordinated,  I  am  obliged 
to  suppose  something  which  unites  them,  and  I  call 
that  something  mind  or  soul  or  spirit. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  we  are  just  as  sure  of  the 
existence  of  the  soul,  as  we  are  of  the  existence  of 
the  body  ;  and  that  no  possible  proof  can  be  given  of 
the  I'eality  of  the  outward  world,  which  cannot  also  be 
given  of  the  real  existence  of  the  soul.  And  I  do  not 
think  there  is  a  child,  capable  of  understanding  any 
thing,  who  may  not  understand  this.  But  I  wish  to 
make  it  a  little  plainer  still. 

If  the  conditions  of  the  body  affect  the  soul,  the  con- 
ditions of  the  soul  also  affect  the  body.  A  man  is  in 
perfect  bodily  health.  A  letter  is  brought  to  him.  He 
opens  it,  reads  it,  and  instantly  faints  away,  falling  on 
the  ground  as  if  dead.  The  thought  communicated  to 
the  mind  has  acted  instantly  on  the  body,  causing  a 


l6  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

reverse  action  of  the  heart,  and  drawing  the  blood 
from  the  brain.  No  physical  cause  can  account  for 
this  result.  Nothing  has  happened  to  his  body,  except 
what  came  to  it  from  the  mind.  Again,  something  is 
said  on  the  other  side  of  the  room,  and  it  makes  you 
blush  ;  that  is,  the  thought  communicated  to  your  soul 
acts  on  the  blood,  and  causes  it  to  mount  into  the 
capillaries  of  the  face.  The  soul  acts  on  the  body  as 
often  as  the  body  acts  on  the  soul.  Now  if,  because 
the  condition  of  the  body  affects  the  mind,  you  argue 
that  the  mind  is  material,  —  then,  when  the  condition 
of  the  mind  affects  the  body,  you  ought  to  argue  that 
the  body  is  immaterial.  If  one  class  of  facts  proves 
the  soul  to  be  a  property  of  the  body,  the  other  class 
of  facts  proves  the  body  to  be  a  property  of  the  soul. 
Accordingly,  many  persons  do  argue  that  there  is  only 
one  substance  ;  but  that  this  is  not  matter,  but  spirit. 
This  theory,  which  makes  every  thing  spirit,  is  cer- 
tainly more  reasonable  than  that  which  makes  every 
thing  matter.  But  neither  is  borne  out  by  facts.  The 
facts  go  to  show  that  there  are  two  substances,  —  soul 
and  body  ;  and  that  man  is  a  soul,  dwelling  at  present 
in  a  body,  which  is  the  garment  he  wears,  the  house 
he  lives  in,  but  which  he  is  to  lay  aside  for  a  house 
not  made  with  hands,  for  a  heavenly  garment  to  be 
worn  hereafter.* 

*  It  may  be  said  that,  while  Materialism  assumes  that 
there  is  only  one  substance,  namely,  matter;  and  while  Spir- 
itualism also  assumes  only  one  substance,  namely,  spirit, — 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  l7 

We  are  conscious  of  ourselves  as  units  ;  and  there  is 
no  higher  evidence  than  consciousness.  Matter  is  di- 
visible and  extended :  every  material  substance  may- 
be conceived  of  as  having  parts,  —  upper  and  lower, 
inward  and  outward,  right  side  and  left  side.  But  we 
cannot  conceive  of  ourselves  in  this  way.  We  say  "  / 
think,  /  feel,  /  wish,  /  dislike  ;  "  but  we  cannot  con- 
ceive of  this  "/,"  which  loves  and  hates,  as  being  long 
or  short,  divisible,  extended,  having  an  upper  and 
under  side  to  it.  Therefore,  the  "/"  of  which  we  are 
conscious  is  not  a  material  but  an  immaterial  substance  ; 
since  it  does  not  possess  the  properties  essential  to  all 
matter,  which  are  extension  and  divisibility. 

As  long  as  the  mind  is  united  with  the  body,  the 
condition  of  the  body  affects  it.     We  are  comfortable 

there  is  a  third  alternative  better  still.  This  is  to  assume  one 
substance  which  manifests  itself  indifferently  as  either  matter 
or  spirit,  —  the  mysterious  substratum,  fountain,  or  cause 
from  which  both  proceed.  No  doubt  God  is  one ;  and  in  him 
is  to  be  found  the  source  of  matter  as  well  as  of  spirit.  They 
have  their  unity  in  him.  To  suppose  otherwise,  to  treat 
matter  as  an  outlying  substance,  alien  from  God,  a  dark 
niaterial  to  be  worked  upon  by  his  power,  is  to  fall  into  a 
false  dualism.  I  grant  this.  But  that  must  often  be  distin- 
guished which  cannot  be  divided.  The  human  soul,  no  less 
than  matter,  must  rest  ultimately  in  God.  Neither  is  that 
an  outlying  substance,  independent  of  him.  He  is  a  perpetual 
creator  both  of  matter  and  souls.  Still,  we  must  no  more 
confound  body  with  soul,  than  we  must  confound  soul  with 
God.  The  distinction  of  matter  and  spirit  is  as  important  as 
their  unity;  and,  without  the  previous  analysis,  the  ultimate 
synthesis  is  impossible. 

3 


1 8  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

or  uncomfortable,  according  as  the  house  we  live  in  is 
comfortable  or  uncomfortable.  But  if  mind  were  the 
result  of  body,  as  music  is  the  result  of  a  musical-box, 
then  the  condition  of  the  body  would  always  and 
regularly  influence  the  mind.  In  that  case,  given  the 
condition  of  the  body,  and  you  could  always  infer  the 
condition  of  the  soul.  When  I  know  the  condition  of 
the  barrel,  pins,  and  springs  in  the  box,  I  can  always 
tell  what  kind  of  music  it  will  make.  But  this  is  not 
the  case  with  the  nature  of  man.  Let  the  soul  be 
inspired  with  profound  convictions,  by  living  ideas, 
by  large  affections,  and  it  rises  superior  to  its  body : 
it  "  o'erinforms  its  tenement  of  clay."  The  wife 
and  mother,  feeble  before,  become  strong  and  en- 
during, when  they  are  called  on  to  nurse  a  hus- 
band or  a  child.  The  soul  compels  the  body  to  serve 
it,  and  do  its  will ;  gives  it  a  strength  not  its  own ; 
enables  it  to  bear  long  fatigue,  watching,  want  of  sleep, 
want  of  food  ;  i^everses  all  the  common  hygienic  laws. 
How  often  a  great  mental  excitement  will  at  once  cure 
a  bodily  disease  !  One  of  these  days  we  shall  probably 
have  a  mind-cure ;  and  then  we  shall  send  sick  people 
to  establishments  where  the  body  will  be  cured  by 
well-arranged  and  properly  administered  mental  stimu- 
lants and  mental  food.  People  will  be  talked  into 
health,  sung  into  health  ;  and  the  wise  physician,  in- 
stead of  potions  and  pills,  will  prescribe  great  thoughts 
and  beautiful  ideas.  I  have  known  instances  of  per- 
sons given  over  by  their  ph3^sicians,  who  saved  theii 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  I9 

lives  by  resolving  not  to  die,  putting  forth  such  a  vigor 
of  vv^ill  as  conquered  and  drove  back  the  creeping  ap- 
proach of  death.  The  mind  sometimes  grows  young, 
as  the  body  grows  old.  As  the  poor  house  of  clay 
wears  to  pieces,  the  soul  within  spires  upward  in  an 
increasing  flame  of  light  and  love.  The  body  decays, 
but  the  soul  continues  to  go  onward  and  upward,  on- 
ward and  upward,  till  the  body  drops  from  it,  and 
leaves  it  more  alive  than  ever. 

If  the  health  of  the  soul  depends  on  that  of  the  body, 
—  as  we  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  so  frequently,  —  it 
is  no  less  true  that  bodily  health  depends  very  much 
on  mental  health.  A  conscience  at  ease ;  a  mind 
which  trusts  in  Providence  and  is  not  anxious  ;  a  heart 
which  does  not  devour  itself  with  jealousy,  envy,  and 
hatred,  but  has  a  joyful  sympathy  with  all  around,  — 
these  keep  the  body  well  and  young.  Fear,  anxiety, 
gloom,  bad-temper,  make  us  prematurely  old.  If  we 
wish  to  be  in  good  health,  we  ought,  indeed,  to  have 
well-ventilated  apartments,  to  take  enough  exercise,  be 
careful  of  what  we  eat  and  drink  ;  but  chiefly  we  must 
have  counigej^failh^opej  and  love. 

Perhaps  you  will  say,  "  What  is  the  use  of  all  this 
argument  ?  Man  is  the  same  being,  whatevei"  theory 
we  take  of  his  substance,  —  whether  we  call  it  matter, 
or  call  it  spirit."  But  this  is  no  mere  question  of 
words.  It  is  a  question  whether  we  shall  look  down 
or  look  up.  Whatever  we  believe  ourselves  to  be, 
we  are  likely  to  endeavor  to  do.      If  we  say,  "  Man 


20  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

is  only  a  higher  animal ;  he  grows  as  a  vegetable 
grows,  —  by  force  of  the  root  and  stalky  sun  and  rain ; 
he  is  made  to  eat  and  drink  ;  digest ;  inhale  and  ex- 
hale the  air  ;  obey  his  appetites  ;  gratify  his  passions  ; 
then  grow  old,  and  fade  away,"  —  if  we  say  this  and 
believe  this  of  ourselves,  we  shall  do  this  and  no  more. 
But  if  we  believe  there  is  something  within  us  which 
can  react  on  matter ;  which  can  control  and  conquer 
the  appetites  and  senses ;  which  can  soar  upward  to 
the  seventh  heaven  of  thought  and  love ;  which  can 
live  according  to  conscience  and  reason ;  which  can 
adopt  a  plan,  and  adhere  to  it,  —  then  we  shall  be 
more  likely  to  live  that  way,  and  become  what  we  be- 
lieve ourselves  capable  of  becoming. 

I  reverence  the  magnificence  of  nature,  and  see  God 
present  in  it.  Often,  on  a  winter's  night,  when  the  sky 
is  sparkling  with  innumerable  stars,  I  have  gone  out  and 
looked  hour  after  hour  through  my  telescope  at  the 
majestic  orbs,  —  the  gi'eat  double-stars,  blue  and  yel- 
'^  low,  orange  and  purple  ;  the  clustering  brilliant  constel- 
lations, blazing  like  a  crown  of  diamonds  in  the  sky,  — 
and  have  at  last  felt  almost  as  if  I  had  left  this  little 
planet,  and  was  roaming  through  the  infinite  universe 
of  God.  I  love  the  majesty  of  the  mountains,  rising 
in  solemn  grandeur  into  the  silent  circumambient  air; 
great  sentinels,  keeping  watch  for  thousands  of  years 
above  the  homes  of  men.  I  can  sit  all  day  watching 
the  ocean,  as  it  rolls,  in  never-ending  harmonies  of 
sound,  its   incessant  waves.     I   am   at   home   in   the 


FROM   ATHEISM   TO   THEISM.  21 

peaceful  woods,  when  the  flickering  light  falls  amid 
the  numerous  leaves,  and  every  plant  and  bush  has  a 
beauty  all  its  own.  But  what  are  all  these  to  the  soul 
of  man,  —  to  the  majestic  intellect  which  can  mete  out 
the  heavens  with  a  span,  and  comprehend  the  dust  of 
the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weigh  the  mountains  in 
scales?  What  is  the  glory  of  the  midnight  heavens  tc 
that  of  a  great  spirit  which  rises  to  truth  and  God,  and 
lifts  up  nations  with  it,  —  the  soul  of  a  Zoroaster  or  a 
Confucius,  of  a  Socrates  or  a  Paul  ?  Such  souls  break 
the  chains  of  sense  and  selfishness  for  millions,  and 
make  mankind  free  to  follow  the  truth.  "  The  glory 
of  the  terrestrial  is  one :  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is 
another."  What  is  the  exquisite  beauty  of  a  flower  to 
the  tender  motherly  love  which  beams  on  the  little 
infant,  and  radiates  light  and  life  into  its  breast? 

A  young  man,  nursed  in  affection  ;  lapped  in  luxuiy  ; 
fed  on  literature,  art,  and  science ;  just  entering  life, 
which  opens  its  hospitable  arms  to  welcome  him  to 
fame,  influence,  and  love,  —  hears  the  cry  of  his  country 
in  her  hour  of  danger,  renounces  all  his  cherished  hopes 
at  that  solemn  call,  and  goes  to  die,  torn  by  shot  and 
shell,  amid  the  rage  and  curses  of  foes.  So  young 
Shaw  died  on  the  parapets  of  Wagner,  and  a  thousand 
others  elsewhere.  And  while  I  marvel  at  this  power 
of  spirit,  my  Materialist  comes,  and  says,  "  Oh  !  it  was 
the  action  of  some  of  the  lobes  of  the  brain.  The  gray 
matter  of  the  nervous  tissue  secreted  patriotism  and 
conscience,  as  the  liver  secretes  bile."    I  cannot  believe 


22  STEPS   OF  BELIEF. 

him.     "  That  which  is  born  of  flesh  is  flesh,  but  that 
which  is  born  of  spirit  is  spirit." 

More  than  twenty-three  centuries  have  passed  since 
the  son  of  Sophroniscus  taught  in  the  streets  of  Athens. 
He  might  have  lived  a  comfortable  life  ;  he  might  liave 
used  his  wonderful  intellect  in  getting  riches  or  power, 
and  died  among  troops  of  friends.  No  :  he  devoted  him- 
self to  teaching  the  young  men  to  be  just,  to  be  gen- 
erous, to  be  lovers  of  truth  and  beauty,  above  all  else. 
He  taught  the  gi-andeur  of  the  soul ;  taught  that  the 
body  was  not  the  man,  but  the  soul  was  the  man ; 
denounced  all  meanness ;  made  enemies  of  the  pow 
erful ;  and,  at  last,  when  condemned  to  die,  spent  a 
summer's  day  in  discoursing  on  immortality  with  his 
disciples.  At  the  close  of  the  conversation,  when  he 
was  about  to  drink  the  hemlock,  one  of  his  disciples 
asked  him  how  he  wished  to  be  buried.  "  Any  way 
you  please,"  he  replied,  "  if  you  can  catch  me  to  bury 
me.  You  seem  to  think,  after  all  I  have  said,  that  this 
body  is  Socrates."  The  Materialist  thinks  so  still, 
and  considers  that  wonderful  truth,  which  uplifts  us 
and  teaches  us  across  all  these  centuries,  was  only  the 
secretion  of  a  little  gray  l^ulp  in  the  brain. 

Body,  make  what  you  will  of  it,  be  it  ever  so  subtle 
and  ethereal,  can  never  be  refined  into  soul.  Body  is 
composed  of  parts,  infinitely  divisible  ;  soul  is  a  unit, 
incapable  of  division.  If  I  am  only  body,  then  at 
death,  when  the  body  is  dissolved,  I  am  dissolved  ;  I 
pass  into  the  life  of  nature  ;   I  become  a  part  of  earth 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  23 

and  air  and  water.  Faith  in  immoi'tality  disappears 
with  this  doctrine. 

I  stand  by  the  grave  of  a  friend,  a  dear  and  noble 
character,  one  whom  I  love  better  than  myself.  I 
have  seen  him  growing  from  good  to  better.  I  have 
seen  him  conquering  his  passions ;  curbing  his  self- 
will  ;  accepting  the  great  law  of  duty  as  the  rule  of 
his  life ;  trusting  absolutely  in  God's  providence  amid 
all  disaster,  disappointment,  failure.  I  have  seen  him 
thus  going  forward,  ever  forward ;  becoming  more 
simple,  more  tender,  moi'e  exquisitely  conscious  of 
God's  love,  from  year  to  year.  His  presence  was  a 
blessing  wherever  he  passed.  His  words  dropped 
from  his  lips  freighted  with  generous  influence.  You 
went  from  him  better  and  happier.  At  last,  in  his 
prime,  in  the  midst  of  his  great  usefulness,  he  falls.  I 
come  and  look  on  that  pale  forehead  for  the  last  time. 
I  say :  "  We  only  seem  the  dead,  who  stay  behind  :  he 
has  gone  into  fuller  life."  "  Pshaw  !  "  says  the  Mate- 
rialist, "  that  is  very  unscientific.  He  has  become 
carbon  and  hydi'ogen.  He  was  only  organized  matter  : 
now  he  is  disorganized  and  dissolved.  Some  one  else 
will  take  his  place  in  the  universe  ;  but  he  is  gone  for 
ever." 

Of  course,  I  do  not  say  that  all  Materialists  deny  a 
hereafter.  But  this  is  the  natural  tendency  of  Mate- 
rialism. Materialism  naturally  tends  to  deny  any 
future  life.  To  realize  immortality,  we  must  believe 
in  a  soul,  which  is  our  real  self;   which  is  a  unit,  in- 


34  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

divisible  and  indestructible  ;  which  gives  unity  to  tlie 
body  while  it  is  in  it,  and  organizes  continually  all 
particles  of  matter  according  to  its  own  type.  We 
must  believe  in  a  soul  which  is  also  capable  of  organ- 
izing ideas  and  thoughts  ;  capable  of  free  movement ; 
capable  of  deliberately  choosing  an  end,  according  to 
reason,  and  then  going  foi^ward  to  it.  We  must  be- 
lieve in  a  soul,  not  the  creature,  but  the  creator,  or 
circumstances,  with  inexhaustible  capacities  of  knowl- 
edge and  love.     Only  thus  can  we  realize  immortality. 

But  Materialism  does  more  than  tliis :  it  takes  away 
God. 

If  all  that  we  know  is  matter,  —  if  all  that  we  call 
thought  is  the  result  of  matter,  —  then  we  know 
nothing,  and  can  know  nothing,  of  God,  the  infinite 
Spirit.  According  to  Materialism,  matter  develops 
itself  by  laws  of  its  own  into  mineral,  vegetable,  and 
animal  life  ;  and  then  evolves  out  of  these  what  we 
call  thought,  love,  and  will.  Man  is  not  created  ;  he  is 
evolved :  the  world  is  not  created  ;  it  develops  itself. 
God  is  dethroned  by  Materialism  ;  and  another  deity, 
the  Law  of  Development,  is  placed  in  the  temple  to  be 
worshipped  in  his  jDlace. 

The  foundation  of  our  knowledge  of  God  is  what 
we  learn  of  spirit  in  ourselves.  We  call  God  the 
infinite  Mind,  adding  the  conception  of  the  infinite  to 
the  consciousness  of  our  own  reason.  We  call  him 
supreme  goodness,  holiness,  freedom  ;  but  to  attach 
any  meaning  to  these  terms,  we  must  study  them   in 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  25 

ourselves.  If  we  consider  all  that  is  spiritual  in  our- 
selves to  be  only  highly  developed  matter,  then  we 
shall  be  unable  to  believe  in  any  other  God  than  the 
universe  itself.  The  universe,  then,  is  self-created  ;  it 
has  no  Creator :  it  is  self-governed  ;  it  has  no  Ruler : 
it  rolls  on  its  dark  path  to  no  foreseen  and  prepared 
end,  but  only  as  blind  chance  and  iron  fate  may  deter- 
mine. Materialism,  carried  out  logically,  ends  in 
atheism. 

But,  fortunately,  man  was  not  made  to  be  satisfied 
with  this  barren  doctrine.  He  was  made  to  believe  in 
soul  as  well  as  body,  in  unity  no  less  than  in  variety, 
in  freedom  as  well  as  in  law,  in  spirit  as  much  as  in 
matter,  in  an  immortal  future  as  in  a  mortal  present, 
in  God  as  in  the  world.  Science  means  knowledge ; 
and  we  know  soul,  God,  and  eternity  just  as  well,  and 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  as  we  know  body,  the  world, 
and  time.  Only  let  us  cherish  this  higher  knowledge. 
Let  us  understand  that  our  dignity,  our  freedom,  our 
nobleness,  consist  in  looking  at  the  spiritual  and  im- 
mortal side  of  our  being,  and  rising  evermore  above 
time  and  sense  to  that  which  transcends  time  and 
sense,  and  remains  when  these  leave  us  for  ever,  when 
time  shall  be  no  longer,  and  the  heavens  shall  depart 
as  a  scroll  that  is  rolled  together.  For  such  shall  soul 
be,  even  if  all  matter  disappears  and  comes  to  an  end.* 

*  It  is  sometimes  said,  that  it  is  improper  to  argue  from 
the  bad  consequences  of  any  theory  to  its  untruth  ;  and  it  may 
be  urged  that  I  do  this  in  the  latter  part  of  this  chapter.     I  do 


26  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 


NOTE. 


The  scientific  Materialism,  so  called,  of  the  present  day 
comes  from  Germany,  and  seems  a  reaction  against  the  ex- 
treme idealism  of  Fichte,  Schelling,  and  Hegel.  The  chief 
representative  of  this  school  of  Materialism  is  Biichner, 
author  of  the  book  called  "  Force  and  Matter  "  {Kraft  utid 
Staff).  In  this  book,  Materialism  finds  a  sort  of  pocket- 
manual.  Its  fundamental  principle  is  this:  "There  is  no 
force  without  matter :  there  is  no  matter  without  force."  The 
theory  is,  that  force  is  a  property  of  matter;  and  matter  there- 
fore remains  the  only  substance.  Both  matter  and  force  have 
always  existed,  and  existed  together. '  It  is  absurd  to  conceive 
of  a  force  outside  of  matter,  or  above  it.  Life  is  developed  by 
spontaneous  generation  from  the  lowest  germ  ;  and,  by  trans- 
formation of  species,  man  at  last  arrives.     Of  course,  thought 

indeed  endeavor  to  show  that  Materialism  tends  to  destroy 
the  generous  and  noble  sentiments  of  the  soul,  to  weaken  our 
faith  in  God,  to  quench  our  hope  of  immortality.  But  is  this 
an  argtimentum  ad  invidiam  ?  If  I  can  prove  that  a  certain 
belief  A,  is  inconsistent  with  other  beliefs  B,  C,  D,  of  which 
other  beliefs  we  have  good  evidence,  is  not  that,  so  far,  a  rea- 
son for  rejecting  the  belief  A? 

When  Paul  was  contending  against  the  general  proposition 
of  certain  Corinthians,  —  viz.,  that  "  there  is  no  resurrection  of 
the  dead,"  —  he  argued  from  tlie  consequences  of  this  proposi- 
tion. "If  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is  Christ 
not  risen.  And  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching 
vain,  and  jour  faith  also  is  vain,"  &c.  Is  this  an  at giimctitum 
ad  invidiam  ?  No.  Paul  simply  said,  "  If  you  accept  this 
proposition,  you  will  be  obliged,  logically,  to  reject  other  be- 
liefs which  you  have  already  received  on  good  evidence.  If 
you  have  accepted  those  other  propositions  on  good  grounds, 
then  so  far  you  have  good  grounds  for  rejecting  this." 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  2*J 

and  will  are  products  of  matter.  Moleschott  says,  "  Without 
phosphorus,  no  thought,"  a  proposition  which  the  Spiritualist 
will  not  care  to  deny.  But  he  also  adds,  "  Thought  is  a 
movement  of  matter,"  a  proposition  much  more  doubtful. 
Biichner's  work  is  written  with  power  and  clearness,  and 
has  passed  through  many  editions  in  England,  France,  and 
Germany.  He  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  give  a  definition 
of  matter,  but  believes  it  to  be  infinitely  divisible,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  atomic  theory.  This  gives  M.  Paul  Janet,*  one 
of  his  critics,  occasion  to  remark  that  the  very  conception 
of  matter  disappears  if  you  conceive  it  to  be  infinitely  divis- 
ible. For,  says  he,  if  we  imagine  a  heap  of  sand,  the  only 
reality  in  it  consists  in  the  particles  of  sand  of  which  it  is 
composed.  Their  composition  in  a  heap  is  only  the  sum  of 
these  particles,  and  is  purely  form,  not  substance.  Now, 
take  one  of  these  particles,  and  suppose  it  to  be  divided 


It  shows  a  w««^  of  intellectual  acumen  to  accept  a  proposi- 
tion on  the  basis  of  a  certain  argument,  without  first  looking 
to  see  whether  it  is  coherent  or  incoherent  with  other  proposi- 
tions which  are  already  a  part  of  our  intellectual  system  of 
thought. 

Wrong  to  look  at  consequences!  Does  not  the  man  ot 
science  look  at  consequences  before  accepting  any  new  theory 
in  chemistry,  geology,  or  astronomy .-'  He  says,  "  How  is  this 
to  be  reconciled  with  what  we  know  already.''  Is  this  con- 
sistent or  otherwise  with  the  ascertained  facts  and  laws  of 
science.''"  It  would  be  childish  not  to  put  this  test  to  every 
hypothesis  which  asserts  itself  as  truth.  All  truth  is  consist- 
ent with  itself;  and  it  is  a  sufficient  argument  against  any 
theory,  that  it  calls  upon  us  to  reject  what  we  have  already 
found  to  be  true.  That  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits  is  not 
yet  a  wholly  antiquated  maxim. 

*  L.e  Maien'alistne  Contemporaine,  par  Paul  Janet.  1S64. 


28  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

into  a  million  parts,  —  the  only  reality  will  then  consist  in  the 
parts,  and  not  in  their  composition.  But  each  of  these  parts 
is  again  divisible,  and  so  the  reality  departs  from  it  again  into 
the  particles  into  which  it  is  divided.  Go  on  for  ever  in  this 
operation,  and  the  reality  perpetually  disappears  and  becomes 
something  relative  and  provisional.  It  is  not  in  the  form  or 
heap,  nor  in  the  particles.  It  must,  then,  be  subject  to  some 
condition  outside  of  itself  But  this  unknown  condition  or 
principle,  not  being  material,  must  be  immaterial.  Conse- 
quently, Biichner's  doctrine  of  the  infinite  divisibility  of 
matter,  leads  through  Materialism  back  to  Idealism. 

M.  Biichner's  crirics  find  him  equally  weak  when  he  con- 
siders the  relation  of  matter  to  motion.  They  use  against 
him  the  scientific  doctrine  of  inertia,  accepted  by  most  phi- 
losophers, from  Newton  to  Laplace.  This  doctrine  is  that  of 
the  indifference  of  matter  as  respects  motion  or  rest.  If  put 
in  motion,  it  has  no  tendency  to  stop ;  if  at  rest,  no  tendency 
to  move.  This  is  a  fundamental  law  of  science,  without  which 
some  sciences,  astronomy  for  example,  would  be  impossible 
for  this  tendency  in  matter  to  motion  or  rest  would  enter  as 
an  unknown  element  into  every  calculation  and  derange  its 
results.  Every  astronomical  verification,  therefore,  is  a  proof 
of  the  doctrine  of  inertia,  and  so  disproves  the  statement 
that  force  is  a  property  of  matter.  Force  must  be  something 
outside  of  matter,  and  is  admitted  (says  Mr.  Martineau)  both 
by  Comte  and  Mill  to  be  hyperphysical.  Mr.  Martineau 
very  clearly  shows  (in  his  article  on  "  Nature  and  God  "), 
that  all  force  is  of  one  type,  and  that  type  mind.  Thus  we 
have  another  confutation  of  Materiahsm,  derived  from  one  of 
the  fundamental  laws  of  physical  science. 


CHAPTER    11. 

Why  do  we  believe  in  God  ?  ok,  the  Evidences  of  Theism. 

'TT^HE  present  chapter  has  two  subjects  :  first,  Why 
-*-       do  we  believe  in  God?   second,  What  are  the 
proofs  of  His  existence  ? 

Tliese  two  questions  are  very  different  ones,  and 
may  require  very  different  answers.  It  is  one  thing  to 
believe  a  fact,  another  thing  to  prove  it.  A  proof  is 
only  one  kind  of  evidence  :  it  is  evidence  addressed  to 
the  logical  understanding.  But  we  believe  a  great 
many  facts,  which  we  have  never  had  proved  to  us, 
and  which  we  cannot  prove  to  others.  I  believe  my 
own  existence.  I  not  only  believe  it,  but  I  know  it. 
This  is  the  most  certain  knowledge  we  have  ;  for  if 
we  doubt  our  own  existence,  the  very  doubt  is  evidence 
that  we  exist.  We  could  not  doubt,  unless  we  existed 
to  doubt.  We  are  so  certain  of  our  existence,  that  we 
cannot  disbelieve  it,  if  we  try  to  do  so.  And  yet, 
though  we  know  our  own  existence  as  an  absolute 
certainty,  we  cannot  prove  it  logically,  in  any  way,  to 
a  disbeliever.  Suppose  I  should  say :  "  Prove  that 
you  exist.      I   deny  your  existence ;    now  prove  it.'' 


30  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

You  reply  perhaps :  "  You  see  nie,  you  hear  me 
speak,  I  touch  you  with  my  hand ;  that  is  proof." 
"No,"  I  answer:  "I  seem  to  see  you,  I  fancy  that  I 
hear  you  speak,  I  appear  to  touch  you  with  my  hand. 
But  in  dreams  I  see  and  hear  people  ;  and  they  talk  to 
me,  and  tell  me  what  I  did  not  know  before.  They 
seem  as  real  as  you  do.  How  do  I  know  that  I  am 
not  dreaming  about  you  ?  Prove  to  me  that  you  are  a 
substance  outside  of  my  mind,  and  not  such  substances 
as  dreams  are  made  of."  You  cannot  do  it.  No 
man  can  do  it.  No  one  can  prove  his  own  existence 
to  another,  nor  to  himself.  He  is  conscious  of  his 
own  existence,  and  so  he  knows  it ;  that  is  all,  but 
that  is  enough. 

In  the  same  way,  it  is  impossible  to  prove  to  a 
doubter  the  existence  of  an  outside  world.  If  I  doubt 
the  existence  of  an  outside  world,  you  cannot  prove  it 
to  me  by  any  argument  or  chain  of  logic.  You  say  to 
me  :  "  Do  not  you  see  it?  do  not  you  touch  it?  does  it 
not  seem  outside  of  yourself?  "  "  Certainly,"  I  reply, 
"  it  seems  outside  of  myself;  and  so  do  the  images  in 
my  dreams  seem  outside  of  myself.  I  am  only  aware 
of  my  own  sensations :  how  do  I  know  that  there  is 
any  thing  real  corresponding  to  them  outside  of  me?" 
You  cannot  get  beyond  this.  If  a  man  is  not  satisfied 
with  the  evidence  of  consciousness,  and  wishes  a 
logical  proof  addressed  to  his  understanding  of  the 
existence  of  an  outside  world,  he  cannot  have  it.  We 
can  neither  prove  our  own  existence  nor  that  of  the 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  3I 

world,  to  one  who  questions  the  evidence  of  conscious- 
ness. The  two  facts  of  which  all  mankind  are  certain 
are  incapable  of  proof. 

And,  if  we  could  prove  the  existence  of  the  outside 
world  by  means  of  logical  arguments,  we  should  not 
make  it  more  certain,  bGt  less  so.  We  should  bring 
it  down  from  the  sphere  of  knowledge  to  that  of  prob- 
ability. An  argument  can  only  produce  probability. 
It  can  produce  a  very  strong  degree  of  belief,  —  a 
belief  so  strong  as  to  be  almost  as  good  as  certainty 
for  all  practical  purposes ;  but  it  is  not  so  certain  as 
experience.  We  believe,  on  the  ground  of  argument, 
that  there  is  such  a  place  as  London,  or  that  there 
was  such  a  man  as  Julius  Cassar ;  and  our  belief  is 
almost  equal  to  certainty,  but  not  quite.  If  we  had 
talked  with  Julius  Caesar,  if  we  had  lived  in  London, 
we  should  have  been  more  certain.  Intuition  and 
experience  give  a  higher  certainty  than  argument  can 
produce. 

If  a  man  has  no  ear  for  music,  and  does  not  know 
the  difference  between  two  tunes,  you  may  convince 
him  by  argument  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  music. 
You  can  say :  "  If  music  does  not  exist,  is  it  likely 
that  men  and  women  should  spend  so  much  time  and 
money  in  concerts,  oratorios,  and  in  taking  musical 
lessons ;  that  they  should  make  and  buy  pianos,  flutes, 
violins,  trumpets,  harps,  and  organs  ;  that  in  all  lands 
and  all  times  there  should  have  been  musical  instru- 
ments, tunes,  and  songs?     Is  it  probable  that  mankind 


32  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

should  have  entered  into  this  great  conspiracy  among 
themselves  to  impose  on  each  other?  Is  it  not  more 
probable  that  music  is  a  reality?"  And  the  man,  very 
likely,  would  be  entirely  convinced  by  this  argument. 
But  his  belief  in  music,  based  on  such  an  argument, 
must  evidently  be  very  much  less  strong,  than  if  he 
himself  had  a  sense  of  melody,  harmony,  tune,  and 
time,  and  thereby  knew  the  reality  of  music. 

Just  so,  you  can  convince  a  man  born  blind,  by  dint 
of  argument,  that  there  is  a  visible  world  of  color  and 
grace,  of  light  and  shade.  Since  all  men,  except  a 
very  few,  agree  in  this,  you  may  argue  that  it  is  more 
likely  that  the  few  should  be  deficient  in  the  sense  of 
sight,  than  that  the  many  should  be  mistaken  in  think- 
ing that  they  see.  Since,  in  all  lands  and  all  times 
men  have  agreed  in  speaking  of  a  visible  universe,  it 
may  be  highly  probable  even  to  a  blind  man  that  there 
is  such  a  universe.  But  if  he  could  see  it,  this  proba- 
bility would  at  once  rise  into  knowledge. 

In  the  same  way,  we  can  adduce  evidence  which 
ought  to  convince  the  atheist,  of  the  very  high  proba- 
bility of  God's  existence.  Perhaps,  as  some  men  are 
color-blind  and  others  are  music-deaf,  there  may  be 
some  persons  blind  and  deaf  toward  God,  whose 
spiritual  senses  are  dull  and  as  yet  undeveloped.  AVe 
may  give  such  persons  very  good  reasons  for  believing, 
on  grounds  of  argument,  that  God  exists.  Such  rea- 
sons I  will  now  proceed  to  give.  But  I  wish  it  to  be 
understood  that  I  am  only  attempting   to  make  the 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  33 

existence  of  God  probable  by  means  of  proofs  :  by  and 
by,  I  shall  show  how  it  is  that  we  can  know  God,  by 
a  certainty  above  all  argument,  higher  than  all  logic, 
and  more  satisfactory  than  any  process  of  reasoning 
ever  can  be. 

And.  first,  we  may  say  to  our  atheist,  —  just  as  we 
would  say  to  our  deaf  man,  or  our  blind  man,  —  "  Is  it 
probable  that  men,  in  all  lands  and  times,  should  enter 
into  a  conspiracy  to  make  believe  that  there  is  a  God  ? 
Differing  from  each  other  in  all  possible  ways  as  to 
what  sort  of  a  being  God  is ;  fighting  together  and 
murdering  each  other,  about  these  difl'erences, — the  vast 
majority  of  mankind,  in  all  ages,  have  yet  believed  in 
Beings,  or  a  Being,  above  this  world,  and  higher  than 
man,  —  the  Maker,  Ruler,  Law-giver  of  this  universe. 
Is  this  universal  faith  likely  to  be  an  invention  or 
a  deception?  Is  it  a  tree  without  a  root,?  Is  it  an 
effect  without  a  cause .''  Is  it  not  far  more  likely  that 
man  is  naturally  a  religious  being,  that  he  has  an 
organ  by  which  he  can  perceive  the  infinite,  the 
eternal,  the  supernatural,  as  a  reality?  Unless  there 
is  a  supernatural  world,  unless  there  is  a  God,  —  a 
God  whom  men  perceive,  faintly  or  clearly,  —  how 
can  you  account  for  this  universal  faith  of  the  human 
race  in  the  supernatural  world  and  in  God  ?  " 

The  atheistic  answer  to  this  argument  sometimes  is, 
that  religion  is  the  work  of  priests,  who  have  invented 
it,  and  who  keep  it  up  as  a  cheat,  in  order  to  get  a 
support  out  of  men,  by  playing  on  their  credulity  and 

3 


34  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

their  fear.  You  may  weigh  the  force  of  this  answer 
by  observing  how  it  would  sound  in  another  case. 
Suppose  the  man  who  had  no  ear  for  music  should 
say,  "  Oh  yes !  I  know  that  men  have  always  had 
what  they  called  music ;  but  this  has  been  an  in- 
vention of  the  musicians.  They  have  imposed  on  men 
by  making  them  believe  there  was  such  a  thing  as 
music,  merely  to  get  a  sujDport  out  of  them  by  selling 
their  organs  and  pianos.  Music  results  from  a  con- 
spiracy of  the  musical-instrument  makers  and  mu- 
sicians." 

A  pi'oof  of  the  existence  of  God  —  usually  called 
the  ontological  proof —  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  idea 
of  God  existing  in  the  human  mind.  How  did  man 
get  the  idea  of  an  infinite  and  perfect  Being.-*  He  docs 
not  find  any  thing  in  himself  infinite  and  perfect : 
he  is  finite  and  imperfect.  He  docs  not  find  any  thing 
outside  of  himself  infinite  or  perfect.  The  world  of 
nature  is,  as  far  as  his  organs  of  observation  reach, 
finite  and  imperfect.  Did  he  invent  this  notion  of  an 
infinite  and  perfect  Being.'*  But  then  he  must  have 
invented  it  out  of  nothing ;  for  there  is  nothing  similar 
to  it  in  the  universe.  All  that  we  perceive  outside  of 
ourselves,  all  that  we  feel  within  ourselves,  is  finite. 
Yet  we  all  have  a  clear  conception  of  an  infinite,  su- 
preme, and  perfect  Being.  Is  it  not  probable  that  this 
idea  comes  to  us  by  means  of  a  spiritual  organ,  the 
object  of  which  is  the  infinite  and  perfect  Being  ?  If 
we  did  not  find  this  idea  in  ourselves,  if  we  did  not 


FROM   ATHEISM   TO    THEISM.  35 

find  it  in  the  outward  world,  if  we  could  not  have 
created  it  out  of  nothing,  —  how  did  we  get  it,  except 
by  receiving  it  through  our  spiritual  nature,  or  our 
higher  reason,  —  that  is,  by  seeing  the  infinite  and  per- 
fect Being,  through  the  eye  of  the  soul  ?  An  argument 
something  like  this  has  seemed  satisfactory  to  some  of 
the  greatest  minds  the  world  has  produced.  It  has 
been  declared  a  complete  proof  of  the  existence  of 
God,  by  Anselm,  Descartes,  Spinoza,  Leibnitz.  "For," 
say  they,  "  we  have  the  idea  of  a  perfect  Being  in  our 
minds.  But  existence  is  a  part  of  this  idea,  and  a  nee 
essary  part ;  for  an  imaginary  being  is  less  perfect  than 
a  real  being.  Therefore,  we  are  so  made  as  necessarily 
to  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  perfect  Being.  When- 
ever we  think  of  God,  we  are  obliged  to  think  of  him 
as  existing.  And  we  can  have  no  higher  proof  of  any 
reality,  than  that  we  necessarily  believe  in  its  existence, 
so  soon  as  the  idea  of  it  arises  in  our  mind." 

I  showed  in  the  first  chapter  why  it  is  that  we  be- 
lieve in  the  soul  as  a  real  substance.  I  said  that  we 
believe  in  the  soul  for  the  same  reason  that  we  believe 
in  body  or  matter.  All  that  we  perceive  of  matter 
are  its  phenomena,  which  are  known  to  us  througli  the 
senses ;  and  we  find  all  these  sensible  phenomena 
going  together,  or  correlated :  hence  we  infer  one 
substance  in  which  they  inhere  and  call  it  matter.  Just 
so  we  said,  all  that  we  perceive  of  mind  are  its  phe- 
nomena, which  are  known  to  t:s  through  consciousness. 
We  are  conscious  of  thought,  feeling,  hope,  fear,  will, 


$6  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

effect ;  and  we  find  them  all  also  correlated,  —  all 
belong  together  ;  hence  we  infer  a  substance  in  which 
they  inhere,  and  call  it  soul.  But,  now,  all  these  phe- 
nomena are  finite,  changing,  limited,  imperfect.  Yet 
there  are  also  certain  infinite  phenomena.  We  perceive 
certain  phenomena  as  infinite.  We  cannot  limit  space 
or  time  ;  we  cannot  limit  power  or  cause  ;  we  cannot 
limit  truth  or  goodness.  Above  all  finite  powers  and 
causes,  above  all  finite  laws,  above  all  finite  goodness, 
we  perceive  infinite  power,  infinite  wisdom,  infinite 
goodness.  And  as  all  these  are  correlated  and  go 
together,  we  infer  substance  in  which  they  all  inhere, 
and  call  it  God.  Just  as  we  infer  matter,  as  the  nee 
essary  basis  of  sensible  phenomena,  we  infer  God  as 
the  necessary  basis  of  spiritual  phenomena ;  and  this 
by  a  spontaneous  act  of  the  reason  in  all  these  three 
cases.  We  infer  matter  from  material  phenomena ; 
we  infer  mind  from  mental  phenomena  ;  and  we  infer 
God  from  spiritual  phenomena. 

Then,  after  the  ontological  argument  for  the  exist- 
ence of  God,  comes  what  is  called  the  cosmological 
argument. 

Where  did  the  world  come  from  ?  It  did  not  make 
itself;  and  we  did  not  make  it.  The  modern  answer 
of  some  philosophers  seems  to  be  stolen  from  Topsy. 
Topsy  says,  "  I  wasn't  made.  Missis  :  'spects  I  growed." 
So  these  philosophers  say,  "  The  world  grew :  it  was 
developed."  But  let  us  not  be  cheated  by  words.  An 
advancing  world  needs  an  author,  quite  as  much  as  a 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  3^ 

world  which  stands  still.  A  world  which  has  the 
power  of  unfolding  itself  out  of  chaos  into  perfect 
order  and  beauty,  demands  a  cause,  even  more  than 
an  unchanging  world. 

Every  thing  we  perceive  in  the  outward  universe  is 
dependent.  The  mineral  kingdom  is  held  fast  by  gravi- 
tation to  its  place,  and  is  moved  to  and  fro  by  force 
outside  of  itself.  The  vegetable  kingdom  depends  on 
earth,  air,  water,  for  its  life.  The  animal  kingdom 
depends  on  the  vegetable  kingdom  and  the  mineral. 
And  the  earth  itself,  with  all  on  it,  depends  on  the  sun 
for  motion,  light,  heat,  growth,  life.  These  all  de- 
pend on  each  other :  none  can  stand  alone  or  go 
alone.*  But  on  what  do  all  depend  ?  Whence  comes 
the  order,  the  arrangement,  the  growth,  the  perma- 
nence of  them  all,  fusing  them  into  a  whole,  a  Kosmos 
of  order  and  beauty.?  Every  thing  that  we  see,  hear, 
and  know  in  the  outward  universe  is  dependent :  on 
what  do  all  depend  ?  What  hand  holds  them  all  up  ? 
What  mind  plans,  every  day,  the  events  which  are  to 
happen  in  the  universe  ?  This  great  world  is  only  as  a 
little  infant  which  cannot  take  a  single  step  alone. 
What  parent  watches  its  tottering  footsteps,  and  makes 
provision  for  its  ignorant  future  ? 

Development  is  a  word  very  easy  to  say.     But  the 


'  *  Recent  physical  researches  in  solar  astronomy  show  that 
the  sun  depends  on  the  planets,  and  is  very  sensitive  to  their 
influence. 


38  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

history  of  this  earth  shows  crisis  as  well  as  de  /elop- 
ment.  I  go  out  with  my  geological  teacher  for  a 
ramble.  He  shows  me,  under  my  feet,  the  traces  of 
awful  convulsions,  of  times  when  the  solid  rocks  rolled 
in  liquid  fire  ;  when  the  atmosphere,  a  hundred  miles 
high,  was  filled  with  gases  no  animal  lungs  could 
breathe.  He  shows  me  other  long  periods  in  which  an 
immeasurable  ocean  rolled  above  our  continents,  de- 
positing them  in  successive  strata,  through  uncalcu- 
lated  myriads  of  years.  Again,  he  shows  me  otiicr 
epochs  during  which  fearful  animals  crawled  amid  the 
slime  of  a  half-dried  earth,  and  devoured  its  gigantic 
vegetation.  Again,  the  scene  shifts,  and  all  this  north- 
ern hemisphere  is  a  mass  of  ice,  upon  which  one  long 
snow-storm  beats  and  drifts  and  falls,  day  and  night, 
during  a  hundred  years.  The  storm  at  last  ceases ; 
the  snow  melts ;  the  icebergs  and  glaciers  fall  away : 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  arrive,  fit  for  the  home 
of  man.*  What  mighty  hand,  what  far-seeing  mind, 
guided  our  earth,  a  drifting  ship,  without  compass, 

*  A  work  lately  published,  called  "The  Pre-Glacial  Man," 
considers  the  glacial  epochs  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  to 
result  from  the  extreme  elongation,  at  certain  periods,  of  the 
transverse  axis  of  the  terrestrial  orbit.  The  last  period  of 
this  sort  took  place  about  350,00x3  years  ago,  and  continued 
about  270,000  years,  ending  50,000  years  ago.  According  to 
Denison's  astronomy,  when  the  excentricity  of  the  earth's 
orbit  was  10,500,000  miles,  and  winter  in  our  hemisphere  co- 
incided with  the  earth's  greatest  distance  from  the  sun,  the 
mean  cold  of  winter  was  73"  below  its  present  temperature. 


FROM   ATHEISM    TO   THEISM.  39 

chart,  or  mariners,  through  these  terrible  dangers,  and 
brought  it  to  its  present  port  in  safety  ?  Did  the  great 
God  called  Development  do  it ;  or  shall  we  look 
higher  ? 

Terrific  forces,  capable  of  blowing  the  earth  to  pieces, 
aie  now  guided  and  restrained  by  the  same  great  hand 
of  power.  Under  our  feet,  a  few  miles  down,  there 
probably  rolls  an  ocean  of  fire  :  above  it,  separated  by 
a  thin  crust,  rests  the  weight  of  five  oceans.  Let  a 
crack  occur,  and  an  ocean  pour  down  into  this  cen- 
tral furnace,  and  what  could  save  us  ?  Let  the  central 
fire  lift  the  oceans  a  few  thousand  feet,  and  another 
universal  deluge  would  come.  Who  sets  a  limit  to 
the  extremes  of  cold  in  winter,  and  heat  in  summer ; 
so  that  the  thermometer  shall  not  fall  to  ioo°  below 
zero,  or  rise  to  200°  above  it,  but  only  oscillate  between 
safe  limits  ?  We  have  a  tornado  occasionally,  which 
blows  down  a  few  houses  and  trees.  Let  its  force  be 
but  increased  a  little,  and  it  would  sweep  away  man 
and  human  civilization  from  the  face  of  nature.  Who 
says  to  the  storm,  to  the  sea,  to  the  heat  of  summer,  to 
the  cold  of  winter,  to  plague,  to  famine,  to  fire,  to 
pestilence,  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further, 
and  here  shall  thy  power  be  stayed  "  ? 

I  go  out  into  the  woods  in  the  fair  October  days. 
Over  a  million  flickering  leaves,  the  innocent  fires  of 
autumn  pour  their  flaming  glories.  Every  imperial 
tint  appears,  -•-  of  scarlet  and  crimson,  orange  and 
yellow.     The  climbing  vines  hang  from  the  branches 


40  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

their  unbought  draperies,  more  gorgeous  than  those 
of  kings'  palaces.  The  oak-leaves  run  up  through 
their  long  gamut  of  browns.  Little  mosses  cluster 
round  the  roots  of  the  trees  ;  a  soft  bed  of  tender  green 
and  gray  lichens  variegates  their  trunks.  The  clouds 
slide  softly  past  the  openings  above  ;  the  brook  circles 
and  sw^eeps  through  light  and  darkness  below.  Who 
has  bathed  the  world  with  this  ineffable,  indescribable 
beauty,''  If  you  come  home  after  a  few  weeks'  absence, 
and  find  your  room  arranged  for  you,  —  another  pic- 
ture on  the  walls,  a  new  and  pretty  carpet  under  your 
feet,  —  you  bless  in  your  heart  the  thoughtful  love 
which  provided  them.  When  we  go  out  amid  the 
infinite  beauty  of  the  advancing  or  declining  year,  and 
listen  to  the  melodies  of  woods  and  winds  and  waters, 
—  all  new  every  hour,  every  moment,  —  shall  we  think 
they  come  by  accident,  or  by  some  blind,  cold  law? 
I  had  rather  be 

"  A  pagan  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn," 

amid  "  the  intelligible  forms  of  ancient  poets,"  and 
"  the  fair  humanities  of  old  religion  ;  "  for  the  Greeks 
saw  something  divine  in  nature,  —  caught  glimpses  of 
naiads  by  the  inountain  streams,  and  of  dryads  hiding 
in  the  summer  woods.  Their  ignorance  was  wiser 
than  our  cold  reason,  which  disenchants  nature  of 
love  and  life.  But  wiser  still  the  conception  which 
finds  God,  the  universal  Father,  above  all,  through  all, 
and  in  all.     Then  earth  becomes  again  alive-;  its  soul 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  4I 

is  no  more  wanting.  Again  the  little  hills  clap  their 
hands ;  again  the  forests,  lashing  their  branches  in 
the  storm,  and  the  sea,  rolling  its  long  waves  up  the 
gleaming  beach,  call  aloud  upon  God. 

"  God!  let  the  torrents,  like  a  voice  of  nations, 
Answer;  and  let  the  ice-plains  echo,  God! 
God!  sing,  ye  meadow  streams,  with  gladsome  voice; 
Ye  pine  groves,  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sound; 
Ye  signs  and  wonders  of  the  elements 
Utter  forth  God,  and  fill  the  world  with  praise." 

It  is  a  law  of  nature,  that,  when  we  see  adaptation, 
we  infer  design.  When  the  geologist  picks  up  a  stone 
so  smoothed  and  sharpened  as  to  be  adapted  to  do  the 
work  of  a  hatchet,  he  infers  that  it  was  probably  de- 
signed for  that  object.  But  when  he  finds  another 
and  another,  tens  and  hundreds,  and  with  them  other 
stones  adapted  for  other  human  uses,  his  suspicion 
passes  into  certainty.  But  the  world  in  which  we 
live  is  crowded  in  every  pail  with  adaptations.  Air, 
earth,  sea,  are  adapted  to  furnish  homes  and  food  for 
various  vegetables  and  animals.  The  lenses  of  the 
eye,  and  the  optic  nerve  behind  them,  are  adapted  to 
the  waves  of  light  which  roll  from  the  sun,  ninety 
millions  of  miles  away.  The  eye  is  telescope  and 
microscope,  altering  its  own  focus  to  suit  the  distance 
of  the  object.  How  admirably  is  the  hand  adapted 
to  the  work  it  has  to  do !  It  is  a  portable  tool- 
chest,  capable  of  the  finest  and  the  strongest  work. 
The  optical-instrument  maker  can  find  no  better  in- 


42  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

strument  than  his  thumb  with  which  to  grind  the 
object-glass  of  a  telescope.  The  blind  man  reads  his 
letters  with  the  ends  of  his  fingers.  Merely  to  enumer- 
ate the  adaptations  of  the-human  body  would  require 
a  work  larger  than  that  Chinese  novel  which,  they  say, 
occupied  its  author  sixty  years  in  writing,  and  was 
concluded  in  162  folio  volumes.  The  world  is  through- 
out woven  into  a  great  web  of  adaptations,  dovetailed 
together,  part  fitting  into  part  without  friction,  without 
jar.  Did  it  come  together  thus  without  any  foresight 
or  design,  —  the  growth  of  blind  law.''  Then  we  may 
say  that  the  roof  which  covers  St.  Peter's,  with  its 
trusses,  its  beams,  its  rafters,  its  braces,  might  have 
grown  up  by  some  law  of  development ;  for,  for  every 
mortise  and  every  bearing  in  that  roof,  there  are  a 
million  adaptations  in  the  world  around  us.  I  hold  in 
my  hand,  we  will  suppose,  a  volume.  It  is,  let  us  say, 
Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 
It  narrates  that  vast  transaction  in  a  long,  majestic 
succession  of  chapters,  each  teeming  with  knowledge 
and  interest.  I  ask  my  atheist  whence  the  book  came. 
On  his  theory  he  might  say :  "  It  came  by  a  chance 
process,  without  design.  The  lead  out  of  which  the 
types  were  made  happened  to  get  run  into  moulds, 
and  by  accident  letters  came  at  the  end  of  each  t}'pe. 
These  types,  whirled  round  in  the  vortex  of  circum- 
stance, at  last  came  together  in  a  printing-ofiice,  and 
got  themselves  arranged  by  good  luck  in  a  printer's 
stick.     Other  materials,   flowing  together,  developed 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM. 


43 


tliemselves  into  papei"  and  a  printing-press  ;  and  by 
a  natural  law  the  letters  were  so  arranged  as  to  print 
this  consecutive  history.  This,"  says  my  atheist, 
"  is  the  philosophical  explanation  of  the  matter.  No 
Faust  invented  printing  ;  no  great  historian  composed 
the  story :  it  is  unphilosophic  to  assume  design,  when 
development  will  exj)lain  it  sufficiently."  Is  the 
atheist  offended  that  I  put  such  an  absurd  theory  in 
his  mouth  ?  But  what  reason  have  we  to  attribute  the 
mere  record  of  Roman  history  to  design,  when  you 
think  no  design  apparent  in  Roman  history  itself,  with 
all  other  human  history ;  when  you  think  that  the 
wonderful  story  of  earth  and  man  drifted  by  a  blind 
accident  upon  the  stage  of  being.?  * 

*  Mr.  Darwin's  theory  of  the  formation  of  species  by  natural 
selection  is  supposed,  by  some,  to  invalidate  this  whole  argu- 
ment for  design.  This  theory  is  not  yet  science,  but  an 
hypothesis,  which  may  or  may  not  hereafter  be  accepted  as 
science.  But  even  though  it  should  be  proved  altogether 
sound,  it  would  not  touch  the  theistic  argument,  which  pro- 
ceeds from  adaptation  to  design.  A  few  rudely  formed  stones, 
picked  up  in  a  formation  containing  no  other  vestige  of  man's 
presence,  satisfy  geologists  of  the  past  existence  of  mankind 
in  the  corresponding  epoch,  —  so  rooted  in  the  human  mind 
is  the  belief  that  adaptation  proves  design;  for  this  is  the  only 
reason  for  believing  it.  The  earth  is  a  complete  web  oi 
adaptations  of  part  to  part,  constituting  at  last  an  order,  a 
Kosmos,  of  beauty.  Prove,  if  you  can,  that  this  has  come  by 
means  of  natural  law:  the  question  then  returns.  Who  ar- 
ranged and  adapted  those  laws  to  produce  this  result?  Did 
the  laws  of  natural  selection,  and  the  struggle  for  existence, 
come  by  accident.-*    Do  we  say,  because  a  piece  of  cloth  is 


4!|4  STEPS    OI     BELIEF. 

Such  ai"e  the  arguments  by  which  the  great  thinkers 
of  antiquity,  —  Socrates,  Aristotle,  and  Phxto,  — and  the 
great  thinkers  of  modern  times,  —  Descartes,  Leibnitz, 
Newton,  Malebranche,  —  have  demonstrated  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Deity.  Because  the  idea  of  God  is  to  be 
found  in  the  human  mind  as  an  inherited  possession  ; 
because,  without  this  idea,  the  world  is  a  chaos  and 
the  universe  has  no  order ;  because  the  human  mind, 
advancing  inevitably  from  cause  to  cause,  can  only 
stop  when  it  reaches  the  uncaused  Source  of  all  things  ; 
because  the  world  itself,  the  more  we  study  it,  resolves 
itself  more  and  more  into  a  majestic  order  and  a 
beauty  inexplicable  except  on  the  assumption  of  a 
creative  and  loving  Mind,  the  beginning  and  end  of  all 
things,  —  we  find  ourselves  intellectually  convinced  of 


made  by  a  power-loom,  that  therefore  it  does  not  come  by 
design  ?  If  we  saw  a  watch  so  made  that  it  would  produce 
other  watches,  we  should  not  think  less  skill  shown  in  this 
construction,  but  more.  Plutarch  says  (as  quoted  by  Ne 
ander)  :  "  The  ancients  directed  their  attention  simply  to  the 
divine  in  phenomena,  and  overlooked  natural  causes.  The 
moderns  turn  away  from  that  divine  ground  of  things,  and 
explain  all  things  by  natural  causes.  Both  these  views  are 
partial,  and  the  two  ought  to  be  combined."  Because  we  can 
explain  the  machinery  by  which  the  hands  of  a  clock  turn,  it 
does  not  follow  that  they  are  not  designed  to  show  the  hour. 
If  one  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  transmutation  of  species, 
without  connecting  it  with  final  causes,  we  return  to  a  world 
of  chance,  as  absolutely  empty  of  intelligence  as  tliat  of  Epi- 
curus; and  all  that  I  have  said  above,  in  the  illustration  of 
Gibbon's  History,  is  then  luliy  justified. 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  4^ 

the  existence  of  a  perfect  Being,  sole  fair  and  sole 
true. 

Yet,  in  reviewing  these  three  main  arguments  for  the 
existence  of  a  supreme  and  perfect  Being,  we  find  that 
they  all  fail  of  producing  full  conviction,  because  they 
attempt  to  do  by  reasoning  what  reasoning  is  incom- 
petent to  perform  ;  namely,  to  give  us  knowledge  of 
that  which  we  do  not  already  know.  The  truth  is, 
that  we  can  only  know  God  by  revelation  of  himself 
to  us,  in  us,  around  us.  And  these  arguments  have 
force  only  so  far  as  they  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
God  comes  and  shows  himself  to  us.  We  cannot,  by 
searching,  find  him  ;  but  he  finds  vis  by  revealing 
himself  to  us.  The  ontological  argument,  for  exam- 
ple, is  reall}'  this,  —  that  there  is  deposited  in  the 
human  mind,  below  all  else,  the  conviction  of  the 
existence  of  a  perfect  Being,  which  is  God  revealing 
himself  to  us  in  the  soul.  The  cosmological  argument 
means,  that  God,  in  showing  us  finite  and  dependent 
existence,  whispers  to  our  thought  that  there  is  also 
necessary  and  independent  being.  And  the  power  of 
the  teleologic  argument  is,  that  it  calls  our  attention  to 
the  vast  web  of  nature  ;  showing  how  part  co-operates 
with  part,  and  how  a  great  universe  of  order  and 
beauty  arises  out  of  this  multitude  of  atoms,  each  by 
itself  without  power. 

The  doctrine  of  development,  which  has  taken  such 
an  impulse  in  modern  times,  has  not  in  itself  the  least 
atiieistic  tendency.     Suppose  the  universe,  at  first,  to 


46  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

have  been  a  nebula,  and  all  the  present  Kosmos  to 
have  come  out  of  that  nebula  by  the  working  of 
natural  laws.  All  this  must  have  happened  in  time, 
and  had  a  beginning ;  for  allowing  millions  and  mil- 
lions of  years  for  each  step,  they,  at  last,  carry  us 
back  to  the  formless  nebula.  Now,  is  not  as  much 
intelligence,  as  much  power,  as  much  love  necessary 
to  make  a  world-creating  nebula,  as  to  make  a 
world  ?  * 

The  argument  resulting  from  all  these  arguments  is 
therefore  this.  There  arise  in  the  human  mind,  by 
the  necessity  of  its  natiu-e  or  condition,  three  ideas : 
I.  Of  the  Perfect.  2.  Of  the  Necessary.  3.  Of  a 
Designing  Cause.  These  three  ideas  cannot  be  sep- 
^arated.  The  Perfect  Being,  the  Necessary  Being,  and 
the  Designing  Cause  must  be  one.  Consequently  God 
reveals  himself  to  us  as  the  perfect,  intelligent  Cause 
of  tlie  universe.  But  this  is  a  revelation,  not  a  demon- 
stration. Put  into  logical  forms,  as  an  argument,  the 
power  of  it  to  convince  is  much  less  than  when  looked 

*  Professor  Huxley,  —  in  an  article  in  '•  The  Academy,"  Oct. 
9th,  1S69 — lakes  a  similar  view.  He  says,  "The  teleological 
and  tiie  mechanical  views  of  nature  are  not,  necessarily,  mu- 
tually exclusive.  On  the  contrary,  the  more  purely  a  mech- 
anist the  speculator  is,  the  more  firmly  does  he  assume  a 
primordial  molecular  arrangement,  of  which  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  universe  are  consequences;  and  the  more 
completely  is  he  thereby  at  the  mercy  of  the  teleologist,  who 
can  always  defy  him  to  disprove  that  this  arrangement  was 
intended  to  evolve  the  phenomena  of  the  universe." 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  47 

at  as  a  vision  of  the  Almighty.  For  God  does  not 
wish  to  convince  the  unwilling  of  his  existence,  by  a 
logical  triumph  over  their  reluctant  understandings ; 
but  rather  to  show  himself  to  the  pure  in  heart,  who 
desire  to  see  him.  He  hides  these  truths  from  the  wise 
and  prudent,  and  reveals  them  unto  babes. 

We  have  thus  glanced  at  the  arguments  by  which 
the  being  of  God  is  demonstrated.  But  now  if  you 
ask,  "Why  men  believe  in  God?"  I  must  give  a  dif- 
ferent answer.  Men  believe  in  God,  because  they  are 
made  to  believe  in  him,  —  because  religion  is  natural 
to  men,  — because  to  trust  in  a  Higher  Power  is  a  need 
of  the  human  mind  and  heart.  Men  worship  and 
adoi'e  God  because  their  heart  and  their  flesh  cry 
out  for  him.  Human  nature  has  a  craving  for  an 
infinite  Upholder  and  Friend.  Men  do  not  eat  and 
drink  because  books  of  physiology  have  taught  them 
that  food  is  necessaiy  to  support  life,  and  have  ex- 
plained how  it  is  transformed  by  the  digestive  organs 
into  blood  and  flesh.  They  eat  because  they  are  hun- 
gry. So  men  do  not  worship  because  they  have  had 
the  existence  of  God  satisfactorily  proved  to  their  in- 
tellect ;  but  because  they  are  hungry  for  some  spiritual 
and  angelic  food.  No  matter  how  low  down  men  are, 
they  feel  this  appetite  ;  no  matter  how  high  they  go, 
they  do  not  outgrow  it.  They  may  sometimes  fancy 
that  there  is  something  wise  and  manly  in  dispensing 
with  religion.  They  may,  in  certain  states  of  civili- 
zation and  manners,  stand  apart  from  religious  insti- 


48  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

tutions.  Some,  like  the  great  poet,  Lucretius,  may 
confound  religion  with  superstition,  and  so  reject  both. 
But  these  are  passing  passions,  eddies  in  the  stream  of 
thought :  the  great  human  current  sweeps  as  steadily 
toward  God,  as  the  Amazon  or  Mississippi  toward  the 
ocean.  While  man's  intellect,  lost  in  the  boundless 
varieties  of  things,  seeks  some  unity,  some  central  axis 
of  belief,  it  can  only  rest  in  the  idea  of  the  Supreme 
Being.  While  man's  will  aspires  upward,  —  ambitious 
of  progress,  growth,  accomplishment,  —  it  must  always 
seek  strength  through  faith  in  a  Supreme  Providence, 
guiding  all  souls  in  their  appointed  path.  While  man's 
heart  yearns  for  a  love,  which  no  earthly  aflection  can 
satisfy,  it  must  turn  to  commune  with  the  infinite 
Father.  While  human  life  is  full  of  sorrow,  men 
cannot  dispense  with  that  comfort  which  comes 
from  the  consolation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  long  as 
tyrants  are  to  be  resisted,  slaves  redeemed  from  their 
chains,  the  power  of  the  wicked  opposed,  and  the 
black  depths  of  cruelty  and  selfishness  uncovered  to 
the  day,  —  the  lonely  reformer,  with  no  earthly  helper, 
must  trust  in  an  infinite  and  almighty  Justice.  All 
goodness  longs  for  God  ;  all  who  love  truth  cry  out 
for  the  perfect  Truth  ;  every  thing  noble  within  us 
ascends  toward  him.  As  we  trust  in  the  better  and 
higher  part  of  our  nature,  we  believe  more  and  more 
in  God.  So  it  is  that  faith  is  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen,  —  so  it  is  that  the  pure  in  heart  at  last  see 
God. 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  49 

Yes !  it  is  no  misuse  of  language  to  say  tliat  we 
can  know  God,  as  certainly  as  we  know  the  outward 
world,  or  our  own  soul.  It  is  by  experience  that  all 
knowledge  comes,  not  by  reasoning.  By  repeated  ex- 
perience, through  the  senses,  we  know  the  world  outside 
of  us  ;  by  repeated  experience,  through  the  conscious- 
ness, we  know  the  faculties  and  powers  of  our  own  soul ; 
by  repeated  experience,  through  the  reason,  the  con- 
science, and  the  spiritual  nature,  we  come  to  know  God. 
Those  who  only  look  down  never  see  the  sky.  The  in- 
ward eye,  which  sees  God,  is  darkened  by  worldliness 
and  sin.  Until,  we  look  up,  in  a  disinterested  love  of 
truth  and  goodness,  God  remains  only  a  problem  and  a 
possibility.  The  mere  worship  of  form  does  not  bring 
us  near  to  him,  but  only  that  worship  which  is  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  But  loyalty  to  conscience,  trust 
in  goodness,  obedience  to  truth,  —  these  unseal  the  eyes 
of  the  soul,  and  bring  us  into  permanent  communion 
with  the  Infinite  and  the  Eternal. 

We  do  not  see  God  by  merely  opening  our  eyes  : 
we  must  also  open  our  heait.  Prayer,  devotion,  the 
struggle  for  truth,  the  martyrdom  to  duty,  —  these 
bring  us  near  to  the  Deity  ;  these  are  the  cherubic 
wings  by  which  we  ascend,  passing  the  flaming  bounds 
of  space  and  time.  To  know  God  aright  requires  a 
great  energy  of  soul,  or  a  great  humbleness  of  heart. 
Little  children  see  God  in  their  unsoiled  simplicity  and 
purity ;  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  our 
Father :  and  we  must  be  converted  from  our  worldliness, 

4 


50  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

and  become  as  little  children,  in  order  to  perceive  that 
infinite  beauty.  The  greatest  intellects  have  been  most 
awed  before  the  idea  of  God.  "  To  know  God  aright," 
says  Plato,  "  is  difiicult :  to  speak  of  him  aright  to 
others,  almost  impossible."  "  He  veils  himself  behind 
his  works,"  says  Schiller,  "  and  allows  the  atheist  to 
deny  his  being  by  that  very  tolerance,  showing  his 
majestic-  presence  more  fully,  than  if  he  had  struck 
him  dead  with  a  thunderbolt."  "  Who  shall  name 
him  ?  "  says  Goethe. 

"Who  shall  name  him? 
Who  dare  say 
*  I  believe  in  him  '? 
Who  can  deny  him,  — 
Who  venture  to  affirm 
'I  believe  in  him  not'?" 

The  grandest  intellects  have  always  bowed  most 
profoundly  before  that  Infinite  Presence.  But  the 
child-like  breast  says,  Abba !  Father !  This  word 
"  Abba,"  literally  Papa^  is  in  almost  all  languages 
the  same,  and  the  first  word  spoken  by  the  infant ;  and 
so,  in  its  highest  signification,  it  is  the  first  word 
spoken  when  we  become  once  more  little  children, 
and  enter  the  presence  of  the  Pleavenly  Father.  * 

Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  The 
existence  of  God  can  nc\er  be  proved  satisfactorily  to 


*  Paul  did   not  translate  the  word,  because  he  could  not 
translate  the  infinitely  tender  associations  which  lay  around  it. 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  5 1 

a  doubting  Intellect ;  for  the  proof  rests  on  spontaneous 
insights.  But  we  come  to  know  God  by  communion, 
just  as  we  come  to  know  the  outward  world.  Only 
by  acting  on  the  outward  world,  and  letting  it  react 
on  us,  do  we  become  sure  of  its  substantial  reality. 
And  so  only  by  communion  with  God,  speaking  to 
him,  receiving  his  answer,  talking  with  him,  beholding 
his  face  in  I'ighteousness,  do  we  become  at  last  as  sure 
of  the  real  presence  of  God  as  we  are  of  the  reality  of 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  III. 
The  Atheist's  Theory  of  the  Universe. 

A  THEISM,  pure  and  simple,  which  denies  God, 
■^  -^  is  a  rare  phenomenon,  and  always  will  be  so. 
But  atheism,  in  that  form  which  omits  God  in  its  view 
of  the  world,  is  much  more  common.  There  are  many 
theories  of  the  universe  which  omit  God.  In  speaking 
now  of  atheism,  and  its  theory  of  the  universe,  I  mean 
that  atheism  which  omits  and  ignores  in  its  manner  of 
thought,  a  supreme  and  perfect  Being,  infinitely  wise, 
holy,  and  good.  It  does  not  know  any  thing  of  a  per- 
sonal, self-conscious  God,  above  all,  through  all,  and 
in  all  things,  —  a  God  neither  arbitrary,  vindictive, 
cruel,  nor  indilferent  to  his  creatures'  welfare ;  but 
loving  all,  good  and  bad,  saint  and  sinner,  wise  and 
foolish.  The  atheist  must  assume  that  the  universe 
has  always  existed.  For  either  it  was  created  by  some 
higher  Being;  or  it  made  itself;  or  it  has  always  ex- 
isted. But  the  atheist  denies  that  it  was  made  by  a 
higher  Being ;  therefore  the  first  alternative  is  out  of 
the  question.  But  it  could  not  have  made  itself;  be- 
cause to  make  itself  it  must  have  existed :  and,  to  be 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  53 

made  by  itself,  it  must  have  been  non-existent.  This 
theory,  therefore,  supposes  that  the  world  existed  and 
did  not  exist,  at  the  same  moment,  which  is  a  contra- 
diction. There  remains,  therefoi'e,  the  third  alternative, 
—  that  the  world  has  existed  always ;  and  this  all 
atheists  (so  far  as  I  know)  believe.  But  let  us  see 
what  follows  from  that. 

In  speaking-  of  the  "  atheist's  theory  of  the  uni- 
verse," I  wish  to  do  the  atheist  perfect  justice.  I  do 
not  propose  to  use  any  hard  names  concerning  him, 
or  to  try  to  make  him  odious  or  ridiculous,  except  so 
far  as  his  own  theory  makes  him  so.  I  cannot  under- 
take to  defend  him  from  any  absurd  consequences  of 
his  own  argument ;  and  if  the  logic  of  his  position  is 
weak,  he  must  take  the  consequences. 

The  atheist,  then,  looks  at  the  universe,  and  says, 
"  There  is  no  God."  There  is  no  supreme  power  ;  no 
universal  presence  ;  no  infinite  and  perfect  Being,  in- 
telligent, benevolent,  conscious,  and  free.  There  are  a 
great  many  finite  beings,  but  no  infinite  Being.  There 
is  a  vast  swarm  of  imperfect  creatures,  but  no  perfection 
anywhere.  The  world  was  not  created  :  it  has  always 
existed.  God  did  not  make  it ;  and  it  could  not  have 
made  itself  out  of  nothing.  Therefore,  it  has  always 
been.     This  is  fundamental  in  the  theory  of  Atheism. 

We  perceive  changes  going  on  in  the  universe.'  We 
look  at  the  earth,  and  find  it  is  very  diflerent  now  from 
what  it  was  a  million,  or  a  hundred  million,  years  ago. 
There  was  a  period  when  the  continents  were  below 


54  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  ocean  ;  other  periods  in  which  they  were  covered 
with  immense  masses  of  ice  ;  other  periods,  further 
back,  in  which  the  globe  was  a  molten  sea  of  fire  , 
and  a  time,  still  more  remote,  when  this  mass  of  fiery 
liquid  was  probably  flaming  gas,  a  thousand  times  as 
vast.  Now,  if  there  is  no  God,  what  power  has 
brought  the  earth  through  these  changes.'* 

The  atheist  replies,  "  Nature."  But  nature  is  a 
word ;  what  does  it  mean  ?  The  atheist  answers 
again,  "  The  law  of  development.  The  earth  has 
developed  by  natural  laws  from  a  fiery  gas  to  a  molten 
fluid  ;  from  a  molten  fluid  to  a  body  submerged  by  an 
ocean  of  water  ;  from  this  to  frozen  continents  ;  and  at 
last,  by  varioys  alternations,  to  what  we  now  see,  —  an- 
imals, vegetables,  and  minerals  ;  with  climate,  soil,  air, 
water,  food,  suited  to  growth.  Development  did  it  all," 
says  the  atheist. 

The  Psalmist  asks,  "  He  who  planted  the  ear,  shall 
he  not  hear .''  He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  he  not  see  ? 
He  that  teacheth  man  knowledge,  shall  he  not  know.'"' 
"  By  no  means,  "replies  the  atheist.  ''  In  this  instance, 
the  less  has  produced  the  greater ;  the  cause  here  is 
lower  than  the  eflect.  The  jjower  which  made  man  a 
conscious  and  rational  being,  capable  of  knowledge, 
itself  knows  nothing,  but  acts  unconsciously  and 
bhndly.  The  power  which  made  man  capable  of 
generosity,  alVection,  courage,  ideality,  faith,  and  hope, 
is  itself  incapable  of  even  understanding  these  sen- 
timents.    The  power  wliich  made  man  free,  therefore 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  55 

capable  of  virtue,  is  itself  bound  fiist  by  natural  laws, 
and  acts  by  a  mechanical  and  chemical  necessity,  and 
so  is  incapable  of  virtue  or  goodness."  In  other  in- 
stances, the  greater  makes  the  smaller ;  but  never  the 
smaller  the  greater.  A  man  can  make  a  machine  to 
sing  like  a  bird  ;  but  a  bird  cannot  make  a  machine  to 
speak  like  a  man.  Man  can  make  a  steam-hammer  which 
can  strike  a  blow  of  twenty  tons'  weight,  and  can  also  give 
a  tap  which  will  just  crack  a  nut.  But  a  steam-hammer 
cannot  make  a  man.  "  As  to  the  ear  being  inade  to 
hear,  and  the  eye  to  see,"  says  the  atheist,  "  that  is  a 
mistake.  Each  is  a  happy  accident,  resulting  from 
natural  laws.  Among  a  hundred  million  creatures, 
one  happened  to  be  born  with  an  optic  nerve,  sensitive 
to  light ;  and  that  gave  him  such  an  advantage  in  the 
struggle  for  life,  that  the  eyeless  animals  disappeared, 
while  he  and  his  descendants  remained.  The  ear  is 
also  a  piece  of  good  fortune.  The  ear  has  its  drum, 
against  which  the  waves  of  sound  strike,  making  it 
vibrate.  Behind  the  drum  are  little  bones,  the  hammer- 
bone  and  the  anvil-bone,  and  the  stirrup-bone,  through 
which  the  vibrations  pass  to  a  labyrinth  which  winds 
round  and  round  in  the  bone,  and  is  filled  with  a  fluid 
in  which  the  nerves  of  hearing  terminate,  each  in  its 
little  sack.  Every  diflerent  sound,  every  articulate 
word,  every  varying  note  of  the  multitudinous  sounds 
in  the  summer  air,  causes  a  different  vibration  in  the 
fluid,  and  sends  a  different  message  to  the  brain  ;.  tell- 
ing that  it  was  the  crow  of  a  cock,  the  whistle  of  a 


56  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

robin,  the  cry  of  a  boy,  on  the  right  or  left,  near  or  far, 
above  or  below.  But  this  is  all  undesigned.  If  we 
see  an  ear-trumi^et,  we  know  it  was  designed  to  help 
the  ear ;  but  the  ear  itself  was  not  designed  for  any 
thing.  It  came.  If  we  see  a  pair  of  spectacles,  we 
know  they  were  designed  to  help  the  eyes  :  but  the 
eyes  were  not  designed  for  any  thing ;  they  came 
from  the  struggle  for  existence.  When  the  Psalmist 
talked  about  God's  planting  the  ear,  and  forming  the 
eye,  he  had  not  read  Darwin  :  if  he  had,  he  would 
have  known  that  the  ear  and  eye  were  not  made  with 
a  purpose,  but  were  developed  accidentally." 

Thus  speaks  our  friend  the  atheist,  uttering,  as  he 
imagines,  the  last  word  of  science.  But,  even  if  we 
accept  all  of  Mr.  Darwin's  theory,  we  do  not  in  the 
least  supply  the  place  of  a  Creator.  Grant  that  eye, 
ear,  and  hand,  and  all  bodily  organization,  have  been 
developed  out  of  one  original  cell, — who  made  the 
cell,  so  that  all  these  should  be  developed  out  6f  it.'* 
.Who  put  into  the  primeval  nebula  its  law  of  evo- 
lution, so  that  it  should  develop  necessarily  this  Kos- 
mos  of  wonder,  beauty,  and  jDOwer.''  No  theory  which 
only  shows  how  the  world  was  made,  can  answer  the 
question,  Who  made  it.''  That  remains  to  be  solved  the 
same  as  before. 

Development  does  not  mean  a  power  or  cause  :  it  is 
Duly  a  process.  We  say  that  in  a  plant,  the  stalk  is 
unfolded  or  developed  out  of  the  seed,  the  leaves  out 
of  the  stalk,  the  flower  out  of  the  bud,  the  fruit  out  oi 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  57 

the  flower.  This  is  development,  —  the  way  in  which 
one  part  is  unfolded  out  of  another.  But  that  is  not  a 
cause  :  it  is  only  a  method,  a  process.  After  we  have 
said  that  the  earth,  as  it  now  exists,  was  developed  out 
of  gas,  we  have  not  stated  the  cause  of  this  phe- 
nomenon :  we  have  only  described  the  process.  An 
immense,  inscrutable  Cause  lies  behind  it.  Some 
Power  has  done  it  all.  What  is  that  Power?  To  say 
natvu-e  or  law  or  evolution,  is  merely  describing 
how  it  happened,  but  does  not  bring  you  a  single  step 
nearer  to  the  cause.  When  a  man  says  that  the  earth 
has  become  what  it  is  by  development,  he  speaks  as 
children  do  when  they  think  they  have  explained  the 
movements  of  an  automaton,  or  the  tricks  of  a  juggler, 
by  saying,  "  They  are  done  by  clock-work." 

But  let  us  grant  (for  the  sake  of  argument),  that 
there  is  in  the  universe  some  mysterious  power  or 
powers,  hidden  in  matter,  which  have  caused  this  de- 
velopment of  fiery  gas  into  an  inhabited  world.  These 
powers  must  always  have  existed  ;  for,  if  there  was  a 
time  when  there  was  no  such  power  in  inatter,  as  there 
was  no  power  to  create  it,  it  must  have  created  itself, 
w^hich  is  impossible.  But  it  has  not  always  existed, 
for  development,  going  on  for  ever,  would  have  at  last 
produced  an  infinitely  perfect  Being,  that  is  a  God, 
which  is  contrary  to  the  atheist's  hypothesis.  The 
atheist  is  therefore  held  by  this  dilemma.  He  must 
either  deny  that  this  active  principle  of  development 
inheres  in  the  material  universe  ;    or  he  must  admit 


^8  STEPS   OF  BELIEF. 

that  it  has  existed  for  ever  in  it :  and,  if  active  for  ever, 
it  must,  in  infinite  time,  have  developed  an  infinitely 
perfect  Bcii.;,;-.  And  so  he  must  either  ^ive  up  his 
theory  of  development,  or  admit  the  existence  of 
God. 

No  one  will  deny  that  intelligence  is  superior  to 
unintelligence.  A  conscious  intelligent  force,  freely 
choosing  to  create,  is  higher  in  the  scale  of  existence 
than  a  blind  force,  necessarily  creating,  with  no  i^lan, 
and  for  no  end.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  if  the 
laws  of  nature  are  laws  of  development,  ever  tending 
upward,  unfolding  higher  forms  out  of  lower  ones, 
they  would,  in  an  infinite  period,  unfold  a  perfect 
Being,  —  intelligent,  conscious,  and  free.  Those  who 
do  not  accept,  with  the  theists,  a  personal  conscious 
God  as  the  cause  of  creation,  are  bound  to  accept  him 
as  the  I'esult  of  development.  If  God  is  not  at  the 
beginning,  he  must  arrive  at  the  end.  The  theory  of 
Darwin  is  a  perpetual  progress.  The  law  of  natural 
selection  always  chooses  the  better,  and  refuses  the 
worse.  Its  maxim  is,  "  To  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given."  But  why  should  it  stop  witli  man?  Why 
terminate  its  career  just  at  this  point?  Given  an  in- 
finite period  for  its  work,  and  why  not  produce  a  per- 
fect Being  ;  that  is,  God  ? 

Mathematicians,  however,  have  calculated,  from 
laws  governing  the  process  of  radiated  heat,  that  the 
earth  can  only  have  occupied  a  definite  period  in  cool- 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  59 

ing  down  from  a  gas  to  its  present  state.*  The  atheist 
may  therefore  say  that  time  enough  has  not  yet  elapsed 
to  develop  a  perfect  Being  on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
A  God,  however,  it  may  be  hoped,  will  arrive  at  last, 
on  this  theory.  No  limit  can  be  set  to  this  principle 
of  evolution,  which  has  already  given  us  the  mineral, 
vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms  ;  and  in  the  last  has 
gone  vip  through  radiata,  mollusca,  articulata,  to  fishes 
reptiles,  birds,  and  mammalia,  and  so  arrived  at  man. 
During  this  finite  period,  it  has  produced  the  human 
mind  on  this  planet.  But  if,  during  a  finite  period, 
matter  has  developed  finite  mind  on  this  particular 
planet,  then,  throughout  the  infinite  imiverse,  during 
an  infinite  period,  it  ought  to  have  developed  infinite 
mind.  Therefoi'e,  if  God  did  not  create  the  universe, 
the  universe  must  have  created  God.  In  either  case 
God  exists,  and  atheism  is  refuted. 

The  only  escape  from  this  reasoning  which  I  can 
discover,  is  the  assumption  that  all  things  revolve  in  a 
great  circle.  The  atheist  may  say  that  just  as  the  seed 
is  unfolded  into  a  plant,  and  then  produces  flower  and 

*  Professor  Sir  William  Thomson  has  calculated  the  prob- 
able age  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  to  be  about  98,000.000  of 
years;  which  must,  therefore,  comprehend  the  whole  geologi- 
cal history  of  our  planet.  — Philosophical  Magazine,  1863. 

From  Professor  Houghton's  fourth  lecture  on  geology,  we 
.earn  that  it  took  the  earth  350,000,000  years  to  cool  from 
2,000°  to  200^  centigrade  ;  and  that  to  cool  from  212°  Fahren- 
heit to  77°,  required  2,298,000,000  of  years.  — Pre-Glacial 
Man. 


6o  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

fruit,  which  at  last  die,  leaving  only  seed,  to  begin 
again  the  same  career,  —  so  it  is  with  the  universe.  A 
nebula  turns  to  a  world  ;  the  world  produces  human 
beings  with  minds,  hearts,  and  souls,  — with  an  infinite 
hope  and  inexhaustible  capacities,  —  these  die,  and  the 
world  goes  to  gas  and  nebula  again,  and  again  passes 
from  nebula  to  another  world. 

It  may  be  so :  it  is  a  supposable  case  that  we  jour- 
ney through  this  dreary,  empty,  blind  round,  —  coming 
from  nowhere,  and  going  nowhere.  This,  I  think, 
must  be  the  atheist's  theory  of  the  universe.  Either 
the  universe  has  always  been  growing  better,  and  then, 
in  an  infinite  series  of  years,  it  would  have  developed 
perfection,  —  that  is,  God,  —  which  the  atheist  denies  ; 
or,  secondly,  it  must  have  been  always  growing  worse, 
and  then,  in  an  infinite  series  of  years,  it  would  have 
annihilated  itself,  which  it  has  not  done  ;  or  else,  thirdly, 
it  has  been  going  round  and  round,  from  better  to  worse, 
and  from  worse  to  better  again,  for  ever. 

If  this  is  the  atheist's  theory,  he  looks  out  into 
an  awful  universe.  It  is  black  with  a  terrible  fate, 
which  grinds  blindly  on  and  on,  crushing  human  hope 
under  its  merciless  wheels.  That  is  the  peculiarity  of 
atheism,  —  that  it  is  without  hope.  The  Scripture, 
with  its  wonderful  power  of  condensing  into  a  single 
sentence  whole  volumes  of  philosophy  and  theology, 
says  (Eph.  ii.  i^),  "without  hope  in  the  world,  and 
atlicists."  That  is  the  dreadful  doom  of  the  atheist,  — 
to  lose  hope.     He  docs  not  lose  pleasure  :   he  retains 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM,  6l 

the  power  of  enjoying  the  present  moment.  He  does 
not  lose  conscience :  he  may  be  a  very  conscientious 
man,  doing  what  he  thinks  is  right,  and  having  that 
kind  of  satisfaction  which  always  comes  with  right 
doing.  He  may  be  a  very  benevolent  man ;  kind 
hearted  to  the  sufferer,  affectionate  in  his  family,  a  good 
neighbor.     But  he  is  a  hopeless  man. 

No  doubt  there  is  an  instinctive  hope  natural  to  men, 
of  which  some  have  more  and  others  less.  This  is  a 
part  of  their  organization.  But  hope,  as  a  conviction, 
as  a  habit  of  thought,  comes  only  from  faith  in  God,  — 
faith  in  a  perfect  Being.  It  is  God,  who  carries  to 
perfection  all  that  we  see  of  good  in  man  ;  the  Supreme 
Being,  head  of  the  universe,  perfect  in  power,  in  wis- 
dom, and  in  goodness.  He  is  a  Being  who  loves  every 
one  of  his  creatures  with  a  perfect  love  ;  a  Pi"ovidence 
guiding  the  world,  and  leading  it  forward  from  bad  to 
good,  from  good  to  better.  Only  this  faith  in  God  creates 
hope  in  man  and  in  the  woi^ld,  as  a  living  principle,  as 
a  permanent  conviction.  Believing  thus  in  God,  we 
believe  in  progress  ;  believe  that  all  things  are  gi'ow- 
ing  better.  We  believe  that  all  that  is  dark  will  be- 
come clear,  all  that  seems  evil  now  will  become  good 
hereafter ;  that  life  is  good,  and  death  is  good  ;  that 
nature  and  man  are  both  good ;  that  evil  is  a  disease 
which  must  pass  away.  We  believe  that  sin  is  to  be 
cured,  and  the  sinner  saved,  and  that  heaven  here  is  to 
pass  up  into  heaven  hereafter.  This  is  the  great, 
luminous,  far-reaching  hope  which  arises  out  of  faith 


62  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

in  God,  and  which  nothing  else  can  give.  Science 
cannot  give  it ;  because  science  only  observes  and 
classifies  present  phenomena.  Philosophy,  separated 
from  spiritual  insight,  and  judging  only  by  sense,  can- 
not give  it ;  for  philosophy  can  only  see  things  as  they 
are,  not  as  they  are  to  be.  But  faith  in  God  puts  a 
principle  of  progress  into  science  and  philosophy,  — 
feeds  them  both  at  their  roots  with  a  generous  expec- 
tation. For  neither  science,  art,  philosophy,  nor  civil- 
ization can  move  forward  or  make  progress  without 
hojDC.  Therefore,  where  atheism  or  irrcligion  pre- 
vails, civilization  stops,  human  progress  is  arrested, 
science  becomes  languid,  art  dies. 

When  Christ  came,  hope  lay  dead  in  the  hearts  of 
men.  The  world  seemed  to  have  come  to  an  end. 
Life  was  empty.  All  faith  in  the  old  gods  had  died, 
and  the  Augurs  and  Chief  Pontifls  argued  against  the 
truth  of  their  own  religion.*  The  purest  and  best  of 
men  were  the  most  unhappy.  Aurelius  Antoninus, 
one  of  the  noblest  and  most  virtuous  of  mankind,  was, 
says  Niebuhr,  one   of  the   gloomiest.     It  seemed  no 


*  Cicero,  in  his  dialogue  "  Do  Natura  Deorum,"  makes 
Cotta,  the  Pontifex  Maximus,  while  accepting  the  State  reli- 
gion in  his  qualitj' of  its  Chief  Priest,  argue  as  a  philosopher 
against  the  reality  of  divination  by  the  entrails  of  beasts,  the 
voice  of  crows,  and  the  casting  of  lots.  While  professing  to 
believe  in  the  gods  as  a  good  citizen,  he  denies  the  validity 
of  every  argument  for  their  existence,  and  ascribes  the  world 
to  nature  as  its  cause. 


FROM   ATHEISM   TO   THEISM.  63 

longer  worth  while  to  live.  Amid  this  utter  hopeless- 
ness came  the  Christian  faith,  and  its  life  was  the  light 
of  men.  Listen  to  Paul,  —  a  poor  Jew,  hated  by  his 
own  people,  despised  by  the  Gentiles,  the  object  of 
derision,  persecution,  abuse,  wherever  he  went ;  but 
full  of  the  loftiest  hope,  and  saying  In  tones  which  still 
ring  through  the  centuries  like  the  blast  of  a  trumpet, 
"  What  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  ?  Tri- 
bulation, or  distress,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or 
nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ?  In  all  these  things  we 
are  more  than  conquerors,  through  him  that  loved  us. 
For  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers  ;  nor  things  pres- 
ent, nor  things  to  come  ;  nor  height  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

The  atheist  has  no  hope.  He  looks  at  the  heavens. 
He  sees  a  majestic  order,  —  planets  revolving  round 
suns,  stars  around  other  stars,  all  moving  with  per- 
fect regularity  along  their  prodigious  pathways.  But 
he  sees  no  mind  creating  and  controlling  this  vast 
order.  He  sees  rules,  but  no  Ruler ;  law,  but  no 
Lawgiver.  Star-eyed  science  brings  us  from  Its  vast 
excvn-slons  only  the  tidings  of  despair.  The  universe 
is  a  vacuum,  empty  of  God ;  rolling  on  for  ever 
and  ever,  without  reason,  without  meaning,  without 
purpose,  without  end.  The  heavens  do  not  declare 
to  him  the  glory  of  God,  but  only  the  glory  of  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  or  La  Place.     This  is  as  if  one  should 


64  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

open  Homer  or  Shakespeare,  not  to  be  moved  hy  the 
genius  of  the  author,  but  to  wonder  at  the  intelHgence 
of  the  pupils  who  have  learned  to  spell  "  but "  and 
"  and"  out  of  the  volume. 

The  atheist  looks  at  the  earth.  Everywhere  he  sees 
ada^Dtation ;  but  he  sees  no  design.  Force  and  Mat- 
ter, two  blind  Cyclops,  have  gone  to  work  in  a  fit  of 
intoxication,  and  tossing  things  madly  to  and  fro, 
instead  of  destroying  every  thing,  have  created,  in  their 
ignorant  struggle,  this  beautiful  world.  What  Force 
and  Matter  have  made,  they  will  one  day  destroy 
again. 

The  atheist  goes  with  a  great  poet  to  visit  the  vale 
of  Chamouni.  They  stand  together  on  the  Flegere, 
looking  across  the  valley  to  watch  the  coming  day. 
They  see  the  morning-star  pausing  over  the  "bald, 
awful,  sovereign  front"  of  the  mountain.  They  see 
the  mountain  rising,  dark  and  dread,  silently  out  of  its 
silent  sea  of  pines.  They  watch  the  rosy  dawn  creep- 
ing over  the  untouched  snow  of  its  summit.  They 
observe  the  granite  obelisks  around,  piercing  the  dark 
sky  like  wedges.  They  look  at  the  light,  as  it  creeps 
down  the  vast  fields  of  snow,  crosses  the  deep  ravines, 
and  lights  up  the  five  glaciers,  "  for  ever  shattered  and 
the  same  for  ever."  The  poet,  inspired  by  tlie  sub- 
lime scene,  sings  his  hymn  of  praise  to  the  Maker  of 
the  mountain,  and  that  hymn  becomes  immortal.  The 
atheist,  who  is  a  man  of  taste,  admires  the  poem,  and 
sees  in  it  the  work  of  a  creative  mind.     That  could  not 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  6r 

have  come  by  chance.  But  Coleridge  himself,  and 
the  sublime  scene  which  inspired  him,  these  required 
no  creative  mind  to  produce  them.  They  were  the 
I'fisult  of  accident,  or  "  natural  selection." 

The  atheist  sits  before  the  Dresden  Madonna.  He 
drinks  in  the  tender  beauties  of  the  mother,  —  the 
wonderful  expression,  depth  below  depth,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  child.  Day  after  day  he  visits  it,  and  finds  its 
mysterious  charm  ever  more  inexplicable  and  inex- 
haustible. In  the  genius  of  its  author,  he  sees  evidence 
of  almost  prophetic  wisdom,  and  a  boundless  power 
of  imagination.  The  work  of  Raphael,  he  knows, 
cpuld  only  come  from  a  creative  mind ;  but  Raphael 
himself,  he  thinks,  came  from  no  mind  at  all,  —  only 
from  force  and  matter,  working  by  natural  selection.. 
He  knows  that  force  and  natural  selection  could  never 
have  made  the  picture  ;  but  he  thinks  that  they  made 
the  painter  of  the  picture.  Blind  laws  could  not 
even  have  made  the  brush,  or  ground  the  colors,  or 
stretched  the  canvas,  —  far  less  have  created,  touch 
after  touch,  that  divine  beauty ;  but  the  soul  which  did 
all  this  and  more,  —  that  was  the  work  of  accident, 
force,  or,  if  you  prefer  the  phrase,  development.  This 
is  the  theory  of  the  atheist. 

Alexander  VI.  sits  at  Rome,  a  monster  of  licentious- 
ness, avarice,  falsehood,  and  cruelty.  He  poisons  his 
own  cardinals,  that  he  may  seize  their  estates.  He 
excels  his  predecessors,  Nero  and  Tiberius,  in  every 
mad  excess  of  wickedness,  with  which  they  had  pol- 
S 


66  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

luted  the  palace  and  throne.  Meantime,  by  his 
orders,  Savonarola,  at  Florence,  —  noble  reformer,  holy 
prophet,  purest  of  men,  —  is  confined  in  prison,  to  be 
executed  in  the  morning.  The  saint  kneels  on  the 
cold  stone,  and  prays  to  God  to  support  him  ;  and  God 
sends  hoj^e  and  peace  into  his  heart.  But  the  atlieist 
looks  into  the  cell,  and  says,  "  Fool !  there  is  no  God. 
Matter  and  Force  made  the  world  ;  Matter  and  Force 
rule  it.  There  is  no  help  in  God.  The  only  help  is 
in  praying  to  the  man  —  half  beast,  half  devil  —  who 
sits  at  Rome.  Fall  down  and  worship  him,  and  save 
your  life  ;  for  if  you  die,  that  is  the  end  of  you.  Pray 
to  Borgia  ;  he  can  hear  you  :  but  do  not  pray  to  God  ; 
for  there  is  no  God  on  earth  or  in  heaven  to  listen  to 
.  the  prayers  of  the  just." 

Uncle  Tom,  on  the  plantation  of  Lcgree,  finds  him- 
self in  a  hell  of  torture.  Torn  from  his  home,  sold  to 
a  brute  more  cruel  than  the  tigers  (for  they  only  kill 
for  food,  and  do  not  torture  for  pleasure),  worn  by  toil 
in  the  day,  starved  and  frozen  at  night,  —  his  only 
comfort  is  that  God,  the  righteous  Judge,  sees  all  and 
rules  all.  He  cries  to  him,  lays  all  his  grief  before 
that  infinite  pity,  and  finds  peace  in  the  all-embracing 
Father's  love.  But  the  atheist  comes  and  says  :  "  Non- 
sense !  you  are  talking  to  a  deaf  and  cold  universe,  in 
which  tliere  is  no  God.  I  have  looked  for  him  through 
my  eight-foot  telescope,  and  did  not  find  him  among 
the  stars.  I  have  looked  for  him  with  my  powerful 
Spencer's    microscope,   and    do  not  find    him    in    the 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  67 

elemental  matter.  Even  the  spectral  analysis  does 
not  reveal  him.  He  cannot  help  you.  He  has  no  ear 
to  pitv,  and  no  arm  to  save.  Flatter  Legree,  and 
aid  him  in  torturing  other  victims :  that  is  your 
only  course.  He  can  hear  you  ;  but  God  hears  no 
one." 

Two  young  men  go  to  the  war,  to  fight  for  the  Union 
against  the  Rebellion.  One  goes  from  his  happy  home, 
his  delightful  studies,  his  present  full  of  joy,  his  future 
full  of  promise  ;  because  the  voice  of  Duty  calls  him 
away.  His  dying  father  puts  his  hand  on  his  head,  and 
says,  "  Go,  my  son  ;  do  your  duty  ;  leave  me  here  to  die." 
His  mother,  who  cannot  let  the  summer  breeze  visit  him 
too  rudely,  says,  "  Go,  my  boy,  to  the  hardship  of  the 
camp,  the  foot-sore,  dusty  march,  the  sickness,  the 
loneliness,  the  prison  at  Andersonville,  the  torturing 
death  on  the  field  of  battle.  Go  ;  for  it  is  your  duty." 
And  so  he  goes,  with  no  light  heart,  but  with  a  serious 
purpose,  and  lies  buried  beneath  an  upturned  sod  in 
the  Virginia  woods.  The  other  goes  too  ;  but  as  a 
politician,  to  get  influence  and  office  by  and  by  ;  or  he 
goes  as  a  speculation,  —  to  make  money.  He  gets  the 
easiest  position,  and  seldom  joins  his  regiment.  He 
cheats  the  soldiers  of  their  pay,  and  their  rations,  and  fills 
his  pockets  with  plunder.  On  the  day  of  battle,  he  has 
business  at  the  rear,  and  keeps  himself  safe.  He 
comes  home,  gets  himself  made  a  Brigadier,  and  runs 
for  Congress.  The  atheist  says,  "  He  is  the  wiser  of 
the  two  ;  for  he,  at  any  rate,  has  got  something,  and  is 


6S  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

alive,  but  the  other  has  become  carbon  and  hydrogen, 
and  is  gone  for  ever." 

The  husband  lays  in  the  earth  the  dear  remains  of 
his  best-beloved  one.  They  have  lived  together  a  few 
happy  days :  his  heart  has  grown  pui'er  each  hour  in 
her  sweet  society.  All  his  earthly  hope  was  in  the  joy 
of  her  smile.  And  now  slie  lies  before  him,  pale  and 
cold.  Decay's  effacing  fingers  not  yet  having  swept  away 
the  lingering  lines  of  beauty  from  her  lip  and  brow. 
In  this  hour  of  mortal  anguish,  his  heart  and  his  flesh 
cry  out  for  the  living  God.  And  God,  hearing  his 
prayer,  puts  an  immortal  hope  into  his  heart.  The 
heavens  are  opened,  and  he  sees  his  darling  alive,  and 
more  alive  than  ever,  in  that  infinite  home.  He  feels 
her  presence  near :  he  is  overshadowed  by  her  im- 
mortal love ;  and  his  agony  changes  to  peace.  Then 
comes  the  atheist,  and  says,  "  What  a  fool  to  think  she 
is  alive !  She  was  a  compound  of  hydrogen  and  car- 
bon brought  together,  and  organized  by  Matter  and 
Force,  and  created  by  a  process  of  evolution.  Now 
she  is  carbon  and  hydrogen  again  in  an  unorganized 
state.  She  has  gone  for  ever.  Eat  and  drink  ;  for  to- 
morrow you  will  die  too.  Do  not  pray  to  God  :  he  is 
nothing  but  the  Kosmos  itself.  This  is  the  religion  of 
all  men  of  science." 

The  atheist  looks  at  the  fact  of  evil  in  the  world,  and 
so  denies  the  existence  of  a  perfect  God.  "  If  a  per- 
fect God  has  made  the  world,  how  can  the  world  be 
imperfect?"    he  says:  "how  can  perfection  produce 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  6^ 

imperfection?"  and  he  chuckles  over  his  triumphant- 
logic.  According  to  our  ideas,  no  doubt  the  world  is 
very  imperfect.  So  the  fly,  beating  his  head  against  a 
glass  window,  might  say,  "  What  an  imperfect  work  of 
art  is  this  house !  It  ought  to  have  had  open  windows 
for  me  to  fly  out  of!  "  So  the  new-fledged  bird,  picking 
at  an  unripe  berry,  might  say,  "  What  an  imperfect 
world,  in  which  the  berries  are  made  bitter !"  The 
countryman,  going  into  the  Gobelin  factory,  and  seeing 
the  workmen  spending  years  of  labor  on  what  seems 
only  a  coarse  and  ragged  figure  in  the  tapestry,  may 
say,  "What  imperfect  and  inferior  work  is  this?"  But 
wait,  little  fly,  till  you  can  understand  for  what  the 
house  was  made  ;  wait,  little  bird,  till  you  can  see 
your  berry  ripen  in  the  advancing  suinmer ;  wait, 
critic,  till  you  behold  the  other  side  of  the  tapestry ; 
and  wait,  atheist,  until  you  can  comprehend  the  plans 
of  an  infinite  God.  Thus  much  we  can  see,  —  that 
evil  is  continually  used,  as  a  dark  material,  out  of 
which  good  is  manufactured  ;  that  the  mysteries  of 
life  prove  the  greatness  of  the  soul,  by  showing  that  it 
can  reach  out  to  laws  and  facts,  which  it  cannot  yet 
comprehend.  To  the  theist,  these  mysteries,  planted 
in  the  mind,  are  a  promise  of  immortality.  For  if 
God  has  put  into  our  very  reason  difficulties  which 
are  insoluble  here,  is  not  this  a  promise  that  they  shall 
be  solved  hereafter?  The  human  mind  is  so  made, 
that  it  must  ask  questions,  to  which  it  cannot  find  an 
answer  in  this  life:  is  tliere  not  then  another,  where 
tlicse  problems  will  find  their  solution? 


yo  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  atheist  may  say,  "  Suppose  all  you  say  is  correct, 
what  then  ?  My  theory  of  the  universe  may  be  dis- 
couraging ;  it  may  take  away  all  hope,  all  consolation 
in  trouble,  all  support  in  bereavement :  but  what  then  ? 
Is  it,  or  is  it  not  true  ?  that  is  the  question."  I  admit 
that  this  is  the  question.  But  I  consider  it  a  strong 
argument  against  any  theory,  that  it  leads  to  despair. 
The  best  proof  of  a  theory  is,  that  it  harmonizes  all 
facts,  reconciles  difficulties,  and  explains  the  universe 
so  as  to  leave  the  mind  at  peace.  The  theory  which 
satisfies  the  mind  is  most  probably  the  true  one  ;  that 
which  leaves  it  dissatisfied  is  probably  the  false  one. 
Now,  the  belief  in  the  perfect  God  leaves  both  the 
mind  and  heart  at  peace.  It  produces  activity  of  head 
and  hand,  joy  in  existence  here,  hope  as  regards  here- 
after. It  gives  unity  to  the  world,  by  filling  it  with 
God.  It  gives  a  purpose  to  life,  as  leading  us  up  to 
him.  The  believer  in  God  is  happy,  hopeful,  and 
strong.  The  tender  and  timid  woman,  inspired  by 
this  faith,  goes  willingly  to  die.  But  who  ever  died  a 
martyr  in  the  cause  of  atheism  ?  Perliaps  some  may 
have  done  so  for  the  love  of  truth  ;  and  an  honest  be- 
lief may  lead  even  an  atheist  to  die  for  his  convictions. 
But  what  a  terrible  martyrdom,  —  to  die  in  the  cause 
of  Despair ;  to  die  as  an  apostle  of  Annihilation  ;  to 
die,  in  order  to  persuade  men  that  there  is  no  infinite 
wisdom  to  guide  us,  no  infinite  power  to  protect  us,  no 
infinite  Father  to  love  us,  no  perfect  beauty  and  good- 
ness for  us  to  love  !     Once  in  a  wliile,  an  exceptional 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  'Jl 

man,  from  simj^le  conscience,  may  dare  to  die  for  this 
dreary  creed.  But  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  al- 
wa3'S  goes  to  death  in  the  cause  of  faith,  not  of  doubt ; 
of  a  glad  hope  and  trust  in  that  which  is  perfect  and 
divine.  And  the  fact  that  a  theory  satisfies  the  soul  is 
a  proof  of  its  truth  ;  for  mental  satisfaction  is  the  nat- 
ui-al  result  of  seeing  the  truth.  The  best  proof  that 
any  theory  of  physiology  is  true,  is  that,  when  put 
in  practice,  it  leaves  the  body  in  health ;  without 
sickness  or  pain,  contented  and  satisfied.  The  best 
proof  that  any  intellectual  theory  is  true,  is  that,  in  the 
long  run,  it  leaves  the  mind  contented  and  satisfied, 
and  the  heart  at  rest. 

The  atheist's  theory  of  the  universe  leaves  the  soul 
empty  and  the  heart  dead.  It  explains  nothing :  it 
leaves  us  without  hope.  But  faith  in  an  infinite  and 
pei'fect  God  tends  to  elevate  and  vitalize  the  soul,  —  to 
make  man  stronger,  purer,  and  wiser.  It  leads  us 
from  the  finite  to  the  infinite.  And  so  we  end,  with 
the  poet  in  saying  :  — 

"  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  nature  is,  and  God  the  soul. 
That,  changed  through  all,  and  yet  in  all  the  same, 
Great  in  the  earth  as  in  the  starry  frame, 
Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees, 
Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent, 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent. 
To  him,  no  high,  no  low,  no  great,  no  small ; 
He  fills,  he  bounds,  connects,  and  equals  all. 


72  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Safe  in  the  hand  of  one  disposing  Power, 

Or  in  the  natal  or  the  mortal  hour, 

All  nature  is  but  art  unknown  to  thee; 

All  chance,  direction  which,  thou  canst  not  see; 

All  discord,  harmony  not  understood  : 

All  partial  evil,  universal  good."* 


*  It  has  been  objected  to  some  of  the  illustrations  in  this 
discourse,  that  thej'unfairlv  represent  the  atheist  as  incapable 
of  generous  and  disinterested  actions.  I  have  conceded, 
very  -willingly,  that  men  may  be  found  professing  atheism 
whose  lives  are  magnanimous,  conscientious,  and  good.  But 
it  is  not  the  tendency  of  doubt  or  denial  of  spiritual  things  to 
elevate  the  soul  or  nerve  it  to  great  achievements.  A  few 
knights-errant  of  atheism  may  do  deeds  of  chivalric  heroism; 
but  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  never  graduates  from  that 
school. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Imperfect  and  Perfect  Theism. 

'TT^HE  subject  of  the  present  chapter  is,  Imperfect 
-*-  and  Perfect  Theism. 
Perfect  theism  is  the  behef  in  a  perfect  Being, 
above  all  things,  through  all  things,  and  in  all  things. 
A  perfect  Being  is  one  who  unites  in  himself  all  the 
good  which  belongs  to  finite  beings,  and  carries  that 
good  to  perfection.  Existence  is  a  good  belonging  to 
finite  beings,  without  which  no  other  good  is  possible. 
But  the  existence  of  finite  beings  is  contingent  and 
dependent.  "  Existence,  made  perfect,  becomes  nec- 
essary and  independent.  God's  being  is  therefore 
necessary  being,  or,  as  we  now  say,  He  is  the  absolute 
Being.  Again,  i-eason  or  intelligence  is  a  good  be- 
longing to  finite  beings.  Carried  to  perfection,  it 
becomes  infinite  wisdom  or  omniscience.  Again, 
power  is  a  good  ;  and  this,  carried  to  perfection,  is 
omnipotence.  Once  more,  the  finite  being  becomes 
more  perfect,  as,  by  means  of  a  higher  organization 
and  finer  senses,  it  comes  more  fully  into  communion 
with    nature.       A    perfect    communion    with    nature 


74  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

would  be  what  we  call  omnipresence,  or  God  all  in 
all.  In  the  same  way,  a  perfect  Being  must  be  perfect 
in  love,  or  an  infinite  Giver ;  perfectly  free,  or  not 
limited  by  an  external  or  internal  force  stronger  than 
himself;  and  thei-efore  perfectly  self-conscious,  or 
entii^ely  disengaged  from  blind  impulses  and  instincts.- 

If  this  is  perfect  theism,  it  is  easy  to  point  out  the 
different  varieties  of  imperfect  theism.  We  shall  pro- 
ceed to  do  this.  Any  view  of  God  which  limits  his 
power,  wisdom,  goodness,  freedom  ;  or  makes  these 
doubtful,  —  is,  so  far,  an  imperfect  form  of  theism. 

Of  these  varieties  of  imperfect  theism,  we  will 
specify  the  foll<:)w^ing  :  — 

I.  Nature-worship.  —  Theism  appears  in  this  form 
in  many  of  the  Hymns  of  the  Vedas,  and  in  the  Gathas 
of  the  Zend-Avesta.  God  is  contemplated  as  immersed 
in  nature, — ^personified,  but  not  personal,  —  as  a  pres- 
ence in  the  sun,  the  winds,  the  fire,  the  water,  the 
clouds,  the  dawn,  the  stars.  He  is  thus  a  blind, 
though  often  a  beneficent,  force.  He  is  in  nature,  and 
so  far  is  truly  conceived.  But  he  is  not  above  nature  ; 
and  therefore  is  neither  intelligent,  personal,  nor  free. 

II.  Polytheism.  —  This  is  the  first  reaction  against 
naturalistic  pantheism,  and  the  first  develoiDment  of 
personality.  Will,  choice,  intelligence,  benevolence, 
—  all  may  appear  in  tiiis  conception  of  Deity.  But 
unity,  infinity,  and  universality  are  absent.  The  poly- 
theistic view  conceives  of  God  correctly,  as  through 
all  things ;    but  not  as  above  all  things.     A  group  of 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  75 

rinlte  deities,  all  imperfect,  do  not  make  an  infinite 
Deity.  In  the  Greek  mythology,  —  the  highest  form 
of  polytheism,  —  the  gods  are  only  lai'ger,  more  beau- 
tiful, more  intelligent,  and  more  powerful  men  and 
women.  But  all  are  limited  by  defects,  weaknesses, 
and  imperfections. 

III.  Idolatry.  —  Polytheism  almost  always  ulti- 
mates  in  idolatry.  But  idolatry,  in  its  essence,  often 
appears  in  Christianity  as  well  as  in  paganism. 

In  giving  a  bodily  form  to  God,  and  locating  hiir  in 
one  place,  idolatry  limits  his  omnipresence.  Then 
God  acts  through  the  visible  idol,  where  that  is,  and 
does  not  act  elsewhere.  And  so  when  we  speak  of 
the  sabbath  as  a  holy  day,  of  the  church  as  a  holy 
place,  of  the  Bible  as  a  holy  book,  we  are  in  danger 
of  idolatry ;  just  as  Catholics  are  when  they  worship 
the  Virgin  of  Fourvleres  at  Lyons,  San  Gennaro  at 
Naples,  or  St.  Lawrence  at  Genoa.  Reverence  for 
what  is  good,  true,  and  noble  is  not  idolatry.  To  rever- 
ence the  truth  in  the  Bible,  or  to  love  the  rest,  peace,  and 
worship  of  the  Lord's  day,  —  is  not  idolatrj-.  To  rever- 
ence St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  or  any  other  good  man,  is 
not  idolatry.  But  we  begin  to  idolize  men,  books, 
creeds,  churches,  whenever  we  worship  the  body  and 
the  outward  form,  instead  of  the  spirit  which  it  con- 
tains and  conveys.  Therefore  Jesus  teaches  his  dis- 
ciples to  begin  their  prayer  by  saying,  "  Our  Father, 
who  art  in  heaven  ; "  therefore  he  tells  the  woman  of 
Samaria,  "Neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  in  Jeru- 


76  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

salem,  shall  men  worship  the  father."  Idolatry  is 
worshipping  the  form  instead  of  the  spirit,  the  means 
instead  of  the  end,  the  body  instead  of  the  soul. 

IV.  Pantheism.  —  The  opposite  error  to  that  of 
idolatry  is  pantheism,  and  this  is  also  an  imperfect 
theism.  Idolatry  confines  God  to  places,  times,  and 
forms :  pantheism  puts  him  in  all  things,  which  is 
right ;  but  goes  further,  and  says  that  all  things  are 
God,  which  is  wrong.  When  we  make  all  things 
equally  divine,  we  take  away  all  moral  character  from 
the  Deity,  and  he  becomes  only  the  blind  soul  of  na- 
ture. Then  we  destroy  also  morality  in  man.  Right 
and  wrong  become  equally  a  part  of  God  ;  and  sin  is 
a  divine  manifestation,  no  less  than  goodness. 

No  doubt,  true  theism  comes  very  close  to  pan- 
theism. It  grazes  pantheism,  but  avoids  it.  Alany 
texts  in  the  New  Testament  have  an  extremely  pan- 
theistic sound  ;  but  none  express  the  fundamental  idea 
of  pantheism.  When  Paul  says  of  God,  "From 
whom,  and  tlnough  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all 
things;"  when  he  teaches  that  God  is  "above  all, 
and  through  all,  and  in  us  all ;  "  when  he  tells  the 
Athenians  that  "  in  him  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being,"  —  he  teaches  the  truth  in  pantheism  which 
corrects  the  mechanical  theory  of  the  universe.  God 
is  not  like  a  mechanic,  who  makes  the  world  out  of 
some  foreign  substance,  and  then  sets  it  in  motion,  and 
goes  away  and  leaves  it.  He  is  the  present,  continued, 
constant  Creator.     The    mechanical  view  implied  in 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  77 

the  account  of  creation  of  Genesis  is  corrected  by 
Jesus.  The  book  of  Genesis  says  that  God  "  rested 
on  the- seventh  day."  Jesus  says  (John  v.  17),  "My 
Father  worketh  hitherto "  (tcoj,'  «oTf,  down  to  this 
time).  God  is  the  immanent,  and  not  the  transient, 
cause  of  the  universe.  He  creates  it,  not  as  one  candle 
is  hghtcd  from  another,  but  as  the  image  of  the  sun  is 
made  on  the  surface  of  water.  The  candle  lights  the 
other,  and  then  is  taken  away.  The  sun  continues  to 
create  its  image,  without  cessation.  Hildebert,  in  his 
hymn,  says  of  the  Deity  :  — 

"  Super  cuncta,  subter  cuncta: 
Extra  cuncta,  intra  cuncta; 
Intra  cuncta,  nee  inclusus; 
Extra  cuncta,  nee  exclusus; 
Super  totus  praesidendo, 
Subter  totus  sustinendo; 
Extra  totus  complectendo, 
Intra  totus  in  complendo,"  &c. 

This  is  the  true  view  of  God  in  all  things,  and  all 
tilings  in  God.  But  when  it  is  carried  a  single  step 
further,  and  we  say  that  God  is  every  thing,  and  that 
every  thing  is  God,  we  confound  all  distinctions. 
Then  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil,  light  and  dark- 
ness, man  and  God,  are  fatally  confused.  Then  a 
moral  and  spiritual  death  comes  over  the  soul  and 
over  society,  as  the  history  of  Hindoo  theism  has  shown. 

V.  Nescience.  —  The  next  form  of  imperfect 
theism  is  found  in  the  metaphysical  doctrine  of  ne- 
science.    This  doctrine  admits  the  existence  of  God, 


/O  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

but  denies  that  we  can  know  any  thing  about  him. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  such  writers  as  Hamilton, 
Mansel,  and  Herbert  Spencer ;  the  latter,  a  thinker 
much  admired,  but  who,  though  an  acute  metaphysi- 
cian, seems  to  us  to  be  a  poor  johilosopher.  He 
considers  an  "unknown  God"  as  the  highest  attain- 
ment of  theology  and  philosophy.  He  says :  "  The 
deepest,  widest,  and  most  certain  of  all  facts  is  that 
the  power  which  the  imiverse  manifests  is  wholly 
inscrutable."  It  will  be  seen  that  this  is  using  against 
theology  its  own  favorite  doctrine  of  m3stery.  Theo- 
logians, when  pressed  with  the  absurdities  of  tlieir 
systems,  and  shown  that  their  creeds  contradict  the 
simplest  laws  of  reason,  nature,  common  sense,  and 
every  instinct  of  the  soul,  have  cried  out,  "  It  is 
a  mystery !  We  must  believe  it ;  but  we  cannot 
understand  it,"  And  now  Mr.  Spencer  and  others 
say,  "  Yes  :  all  theology  is  a  mystery.  We  can  know 
nothing  about  it.  We  must  let  it  all  alone,  and  devote 
ourselves  to  practical  matters,  to  things  of  this  world. 
God  exists  ;  but  we  know  nothing  about  him.  There- 
fore we  have  nothing  to  do  with  theology  or  religion, 
and  cannot  believe  any  thing  about  either."  Thus 
mystery,  pushed  too  far,  has  destroyed  belief. 

The  origin  of  tliis  doctrine  of  nescience  seems  to  be 
a  confusion  between  understanding  a  fact  antl  com- 
prehending it.  We  know  a  great  many  things  whicli 
we  cannot  comprclicnd.  We  know  that  space  is 
infmite ;    but    who    can    comprehend    inllnit}  ?       Tlie 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  79 

ideas  of  infinite  space  and  infinite  time  are  perfectly 
simple  and  intelligible  notions.  We  understand  per- 
fectly both  ideas,  but  we  comprehend  neither.  Our 
mind,  being  finite,  can  by  no  possibility  comprehend 
the  infinite.  That  is,  our  knowledge  of  it  is  cor- 
I'ect  in  quality,  but  limited  in  quantity.  We  hold  it 
firmly,  but  cannot  grasp  it  all.  A  child  knows  his 
father  correctly ;  but  how  imperfectly  does  he  com- 
l^rehcnd  him !  So  I  can  know  God  truly ;  I  can 
understand  truly  what  infinite  wisdom,  power,  and 
goochiess  mean  ;  but  how  little  do  I  com^Drehend  of 
their  vast  range,  of  their  immense  plan,  of  their  enor- 
mous depth,  breadth,  height !  "  Who  by  searching 
can  find  out  God?  who  can  find  out  the  Almighty  to 
perfection  ?  " 

VI.  Law  and  Cause.  —  The  next  imperfect  theism 
makes  of  the  Deity  a  law,  and  not  an  intelligent 
Cause.  Natural  science  looks  only  at  facts  and  laws, 
and  sometimes  forgets  that  a  law  is  only  a  method  of 
working,  and  that  behind  all  law  there  must  be  power. 
A  legislature  passes  a  law  declaring  that  no  intoxicat- 
ing liquor  shall  be  sold  in  any  of  the  shops  of  the 
State  ;  and  presently  no  liquor  is  sold  in  some  places, 
while  it  continues  to  be  sold  in  other  places.  Behind 
tlie  law,  in  one  place,  is  a  power  —  namely,  the  power 
of  public  opinion — which  enforces  the  law.  Behind 
the  law  in  another  place  is  no  such  power,  and  there- 
fore it  is  not  enforced. 

Natural  science  observes  facts,  and  infers  laws.     It 


So  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

observes,  for  example,  that  the  best  organized  phxats 
and  animals  live,  while  others  die ;  that  these  best 
organized  plants,  by  an  organic  law^,  communicate 
their  qualities  to  their  successors,  and  so  form  a  per- 
manent variety.  Hence  it  infers  the  law  of  progress, 
by  which  the  strongest  creatures  live  and  the  weaker 
die.  Thus,  all  the  varieties  of  plants  and  animals, 
and  all  the  progress  of  these  from  the  lowest  germ  and 
cell  up  to  man,  are  accounted  for  by  law.  Be  it  so. 
Theology  has  no  quarrel  at  all  with  science,  while 
science  shows  how  things  come  to  exist.  But  to 
show  how  they  come,  is  not  to  show  why  they  come. 
Law  is  not  power ;  law  is  not  intelligence  ;  law  is  not 
goodness.  Law  itself  implies  a  law-maker  and  a 
law-enforcer ;  and,  if  the  law  works  for  the  general 
good,  that  the  law-maker  and  law-enforcer  is  also 
beneficent.  That  is,  the  law  implies  wisdom,  power, 
and  goodness  behind  it. 

Science,  therefore,  produces  imperfect  theism,  not 
while  it  is  genuine  science,  but  when  it  goes  out  of  its 
province  of  observing  facts  and  inferring  laws,  and 
assumes  that  these  facts  and  laws  are  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  luiivcrse. 

Vn.  Positivism.  —  Another  imperfect  theism  is 
positivism.  Positivism  declares  tliat  we  only  know 
what  we  get  at  through  the  senses  ;  and  as  the  senses 
only  perceive  phenomena,  that  we  can  only  know 
phenomena.  It  declares  that  there  is  nothing  but 
phenomena    and    their  succession,  of  which  we   can 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  8l 

know  any  thing.      Of  causes  we   can  know  nothing, 
but  only  of  phenomena  and  their  laws. 

The  fatal  weakness  of  this  system,  wherever  it  comes 
to  light,  — whether  as  taught  by  Comte  in  its  integrity, 
or  taught  in  a  more  diluted  form  by  others,  —  is  that 
it  assumes  that  there  is  onl}'  one  way  by  which  knowl- 
edge can  enter  the  mind  ;  namely,  by  the  senses.  It  as- 
sumes it,  but  does  not  prove  it,  or  seriously  try  to  prove  it. 

The  Bible  says,  and  says  correctly,  that  "  spiritual 
things  are  spiritually  discerned."  Man  has  various 
organs  by  which  he  discerns  various  realities.  Each 
class  of  realities  is  discerned  through  its  own  organ. 
In  externals,  we  know  this  well  enough.  We  never 
expect  to  see  with  our  hands,  or  to  smell  with  our 
ears.  We  know  that  we  cannot  do  a  sum  in  the 
rule  of  three  by  our  nose,  or  taste  with  our  tongue 
the  proper  translation  of  a  Gi'eek  sentence.  Visible 
things,  we  know,  are  optically  discerned,  by  the  eyes ; 
audible  things  are  discerned  audibly,  by  the  ears  ;  tan- 
gible things  are  discerned  by  the  touch  ;  logical  things 
are  detected  bj^  the  reason  ;  emotions  of  the  soul  are 
perceived  by  the  consciousness ;  historical  facts  are 
reported  by  the  memoiy.  We  do  not  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  Julius  Caesar,  because  we  cannot  touch  him  ; 
nor  the  fragrance  of  a  rose,  because  we  cannot  hear  it. 
Nor  do  we  deny  the  existence  of  hope  and  fear,  love 
and  hatred,  because  these  cannot  be  perceived  by  the 
senses.  Why,  then,  doubt  the  reality  of  spiritual 
things,  because  they  must  be  spiritually  discerned? 

6 


82  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

VIII.  Theology  of  Will. — But  there  is  yet  an- 
other form  of  imperfect  theism,  which  is  more  com- 
mon. It  is  that  popular  theology  which  makes  God 
a  tyrant,  and  man  a  slave  ;  which  divorces  the  divine 
will  from  his  justice  and  his  love,  and  so  makes  it  an 
arbitrary  and  desjDotic  will.  The  powerful  Augustin- 
ian  theology,  revived  and  renewed  by  Calvin,  taught 
that  God  from  the  beginning  created  some  men  to  be 
saved  and  some  to  be  lost.  Without  any  regard  to 
their  goodness  or  their  wickedness,  he  saves  some,  be- 
cause he  chooses  to  do  so ;  without  any  regard  to 
their  wickedness  or  their  goodness,  lie  damns  others, 
because  he  chooses  to  do  so.  This  substitutes,  in  the 
place  of  the  infinite  and  perfect  God,  an  arbitrary,  im 
perfect,  and  wilful  Power.  Infinite  will  —  divorced  in 
our  thought  from  infinite  justice,  wisdom,  and  love  —  is 
less  perfect  than  infinite  will  allied  to  these.  The  God 
of  Calvin  is  therefore  an  imperfect  God,  unable  or  un- 
willing to  save  all  his  creatures  ;  able  and  willing  to 
save  only  a  part  of  them. 

Calvinism,  in  its  form  of  election  and  arbitrary  decreeS| 
is  fast  passing  away.  It  docs  not  exist  in  tlic  Episco- 
pal or  Methodist  Churches,  hardly  among  the  Ortho- 
dox Congregationalists  and  New-School  Presbyterians  ; 
and  holds  its  place  with  difficulty  among  the  Old- 
School  Presbyterians  in  the  South  and  South-west. 
But  one  doctrine  which  deforms  theology  and  dishon- 
ors God,  still  remains  in  all  the  orthodox  churclies. 
It   is   the    doctrine    of  everlasting  punisliment,  in   the 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    TPIEISM.  S3 

other  world,  for  the  sins  committed  in  this  life.  No 
church,  claiming  to  be  orthodox,  has  yet  dared  to  re- 
pudiate this  awful  doctrine,  which  is  more  injurious  to 
the  character  of  the  Almighty  than  all  the  blasphemies 
of  the  impious,  and  all  the  denials  of  the  atheist.  For 
what  does  it  assert.''  That  God  keeps  his  children  in 
existence  for  ever,  merely  to  torment  them  for  ever ; 
inflicting  on  each  one  an  amount  of  suflering  infinitely 
greater  than  all  the  pangs  of  the  martyrs,  and  all 
the  agonies  of  the  sufterers,  who  have  been  in  the 
world  since  the  world  began.  Add  together  the  tor- 
tures inflicted  by  the  tyrants  and  despots  in  all  time, 
the  aiito-da-fes  of  the  Inquisitions,  the  cruel  tor- 
ments of  every  battle-field  of  historj',  the  solitary 
sufierings  from  disease,  accident,  moral  and  mental 
anguish,  —  add  them  together,  and  when  an  equiv- 
alent to  all  has  been  suflered  by  one  soul,  his  suflering 
has  only  begun.  All  the  suflerings  of  time  added  to- 
gether, are  finite  ;  and  if  they  end  at  last  in  universal 
and  infinite  bliss,  —  no  matter  how  far  oft'  that  consum- 
mation may  be,  —  they  are  mathematically  and  logically 
nothing  when  compared  with  the  succeeding  joy.  But 
let  one  soul  suffer  to  all  eternity,  and  his  solitar^^  suf- 
fering infinitely  outweighs  the  anguish  borne  in  all 
time  in  all  the  worlds  of  the  universe.  If  suffering  is 
finite,  and  final  bliss  is  universal  and  infinite,  then  suf- 
fering disappears,  and  is  reduced  to  nothing.  But  if 
suffering  is  infinite,  then  evil  shares  the  throne  of  the 
universe  with  God,  then  God  is  no  longer  universal 


§4  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

sovereign.  "  He  wills  to  have  all  men  saved,"  says  the 
Scripture.  Is  he  unable  to  save  them.^  Either  he  is 
deficient  in  goodness,  and  so  docs  not  wish  to  save 
them ;  or  he  is  deficient  in  wisdom,  and  does  not 
know  how  to  save  them  ;  or  he  is  deficient  in  power, 
and  is  not  able  to  save  them.  In  either  case,  he  is  not 
a  perfect  Being.  Thus  the  doctrine  of  everlasting  pun- 
ishment dethrones  God,  and  leaves  him  the  servant  of 
some  dark  fate  outside  of  himself. 

It  is  no  answer  to  this,  to  say  that  God  allows  evil  to 
exist  here  in  time.  For  we  have  seen  that  all  the  suf- 
ferings of  time  are  mathematically  nothing,  compared 
with  the  bliss  of  eternity.  All  finite  suflering,  how- 
ever great,  is  as  nothing  when  compared  with  ever- 
lasting happiness  afterward. 

We  will  close  this  chapter  by  giving  a  brief  resumd 
of  our  argument  thus  far. 

If  we  are  asked,  "  Why  do  you  believe  in  God .'' " 
we  may  give  the  following  answer  :  — 

I  believe  in  God,  because  I  am  made  to  believe  in 
him.  If  I  became  an  atheist,  I  should  be  oblige  il  to 
silence  the  voice  of  my  soul,  the  nistincts  of  my  higher 
being,  the  voice  of  my  reason,  the  dictates  of  nature, 
the  aspirations  of  the  spirit  I'ising  above  the  finite  to 
the  infinite,  the  longings  of  my  heart  for  an  almighty 
and  perfect  Friend.  I  am  so  made  that  I  have  no  peace, 
no  rest,  no  satisfaction  in  the  present,  no  hope  in  the 
future,  but  in  the  faith  that  —  above  all  that  is  dark. 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  85 

blind,  and  mechanical  in  the  universe  ;  behind  all  that 
is  mysterious  and  sad,  — there  sits  supreme  one  infinite 
Master,  who  is  at  the  same  time  an  infinite  Benefactor, 
an  endless  Lover  of  his  creatures. 

Secondly,  I  believe  in  God  because  I  see  everywhere, 
in  nature  and  the  outward  world,  the  proofs  of  a 
boundless  intelligence.  I  see  everywhere  adaptation, 
and  infer  design  ;  everywhere  order,  law,  beauty,  har- 
mony. All  Nature  sings  a  song  of  praise  to  God. 
Opening  spring,  which  unbinds  the  sod,  announces  his 
coming,  with  numerous  flowers,  birds,  and  retui'ning 
life.  The  long  summer  days,  filled  with  joy,  speak  of 
him.  Him  the  abounding  autumn,  him  the  solemn  win- 
ter, proclaim.  His  praise  is  sung  by  the  winds,  which 
blow  from  four  quarters  of  the  heavens ;  and  by  the 
majesty  and  terror  of  the  storm.  The  mighty  ocean 
chants  his  praise  in  its  tumultuous  surges,  and  its  im- 
measurable smile.  The  mountains,  great  sentinels  of 
nature,  in  their  perpetual  calm  and  snowy  purity, 
praise  God  with  their  sky-piercing  peaks.  Coming 
da}-,  and  the  rising  sun,  pouring  light  over  the  earth, 
tell  of  his  goodness  ;  and  night,  with  its  solemn  multi- 
tude of  fires,  shows  to  us  his  infinite  power.  I  believe 
in  God,  because  nature  is  full  of  him  ;  in  all  its  oi'der, 
its  beauty,  its  manifold  variety,  its  infinite  adapta- 
tion. 

Again,  I  believe  in  God  because  the  universal  testi- 
mony of  man,  from  the  dawn  of  time,  bears  witness 
to  the  divine  reality.      Faintly  or  clearly,  all  people, 


86  STEPS    OF    HELIEF. 

nations,  and  languages  have  seen  the  presence  of  God 
in  the  world,  —  sometimes,  as  in  a  glass  darkly,  in- 
voh'ed  in  superstition  and  error;  sometimes  in  clearer 
light  and  beauty.  Polytheism  and  monotheism,  Jew 
and  Gentile,  Brahmin  and  Buddhist;  the  negro  of 
Africa  with  his  Fetich  ;  the  Scandinavian  with  his 
faith  in  Valhalla  ;  the  solemn  mystery  of  the  Egvptian 
shrines  with  their  long  arcades  of  sphinxes  and  obelisks  ; 
the  Acropolis  at  Athens  glittering  in  its  snowy  marble 
beauty,  its  exquisite  temples,  its  innumerable  statues ; 
Rome  with  its  altars ;  the  isles  of  the  ocean  ;  the  an- 
cient worship  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  the  Great 
Spirit  of  the  Indian,  —  all  attest  the  fact,  that  wher- 
ever man  has  lived,  he  has  looked  out  of  time  into 
eternity,  and  has  seen  some  gleams  of  a  divine  powei 
above  and  beyond  the  earth. 

Once  more,  I  believe  in  God,  because  the  wisest  and 
best  of  the  race  have  risen  always  out  of  super- 
stition on  the  one  side,  and  unbelief  on  the  other,  to 
the  sight  of  one  infinite  and  j^erfect  Being.  The 
Hymns  of  the  Vedas,  in  their  higlicst  strains,  announce 
one  supreme  God.  The  great  teacher  of  ancient  Per- 
sia, Zoroaster,  discloses  the  God  of  light  and  truth 
and  goodness,  as  the  highest  power.  Greece,  by  the 
voice  of  her  best  and  greatest  philosophers,  announces 
the  same  truth.  No  one  in  the  Old  World  taught  a 
purer  theism  than  Socrates  ;  no  one  demonstrated  the 
purity  and  perfection  of  the  Deity  more  plainly  than 
Aristotle.     Plato  says,  "  Around  the  King  of  all,  are 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  87 

all  things;  and  he  is  the  cause  of  all  good."  Euripides 
declares,  "  God  sees  all  things,  and  is  himself  unseen." 
The  Pythagoreans  said,  "  God  is  one.  He  is  not,  as 
some  suppose,  outside  this  frame  of  things,  but  with- 
in it.  In  all  the  entireness  of  his  being,  he  is  in  the 
whole  circle  of  existence,  surveying  all  nature,  and 
blending  in  harmonious  union  the  whole ;  Giver  of 
light  in  heaven,  and  Father  of  all ;  the  mind  and  life  of 
the  whole  world ;  Mover  of  all  things."  Sophocles 
says :  — 

"  One  in  truth,  one  is  God, 

Who  made  both  heaven  and  the  far-reaching  earth, 

And  ocean's  blue  wave  and  the  mighty  winds. 

But  many  of  us  mortals,  deceived  in  heart, 

Have  set  up  for  ourselves,  as  a  consolation  in  our  affliction, 

Images  of  the  gods,  of  stone  or  wood  or  brass  or  gold  or 

ivory, 
And  worship  these  with  vain  sacrifices." 

And  Orpheus,  as  quoted  by  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
says  :  "■  I  shall  utter  to  whom  it  is  lawful ;  but  let  the 
doors  be  closed  against  all  the  profane.  Walk  in 
the  straight  path  to  the  immortal  and  only  King  of  the 
universe.  For  he  is  one,  self-proceeding.  From  him 
all  things  come :  his  power  is  in  all.  No  mortal  sees 
him  ;  but  he  sees  all." 

And  so  Cicero  says  of  the  Romans  :  "  Some  nations, 
conscript  fathers,  excel  us,  —  as  do  the  Spaniards  in 
numbers,  the  Gauls  in  physical  strength,  the  Car- 
thaginians in  cunning,  the  Greeks  in  art ;  but  we,  the 


SS  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Romans,  surpass  all  others  in  piety,  in  religion,  and 
that  one  wisdom  which  sees  that  all  things  are  gov- 
erned and  directed  by  the  will  of  the  immortal  gods." 

And  from  among  all  the  great  thinkers  of  modern 
times,  who  have  proclaimed  a  pure  tlieism, — from 
Erigena  to  Descartes,  Newton,  Leibnitz,  Locke,  let 
me  select  one  sentence  from  Lord  Bacon.  Lord  Bacon 
says :  "  I  had  leather  believe  all  the  fables  in  the  Le- 
gend, and  the  Talmud,  and  the  Alcoran,  than  that  this 
universal  frame  is  without  a  mind.  It  is  true,  that 
a  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to  atheism, 
but  depth  in  philosophy  bringeth  men's  minds  about  to 
religion ;  for  while  the  mind  of  man  looketh  upon 
second  causes  scattered,  it  may  sometimes  rest  in  them 
and  go  no  further ;  but  when  it  beholdeth  the  chain  of 
them  confederate  and  linked  together,  it  must  needs 
fly  to  Providence  and  Deity." 

Again,  I  believe  in  God  because  this  faith  is  the 
great  spring  of  human  progress.  Faith  in  God  gives 
courage,  hope,  energy,  to  men ;  and  the  nearer  the 
faitli  approaches  to  true  theism,  the  greater  is  its 
power  to  carry  men  upward  and  onward.  The  slave, 
in  his  chains,  strengthened  by  this  faith,  is  stronger 
than  his  tyrant.  It  nerves  the  arm  of  the  patriot, 
fighting  the  battles  of  freedom.  When  Paul  crossed 
the  blue  yEgean,  carrying  faith  in  one  living  God  to 
Europe,  he  inspired  a  new  life  in  the  decaying  mass 
of  the  Roman  empire,  and  founded  modern  civilization. 
When  Mohammed  taught  his  wild  Arab  tribes  to  re- 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  89 

nounce  idolatry,  and  accept  one  God,  he  created  the 
seeds  of  a  civilization  which  illuminated  Europe  for 
many  hundred  years.  When  Luther  defied  Rome,  in 
the  name  of  a  faith  purified  from  its  corruptions,  and 
Gustavus  Adolphus  died  fighting  for  freedom  of  spirit, 
they  planted  the  germs  of  modern  art,  science,  litera- 
ture. When  the  Puritans  fought  at  Naseby,  under 
Cromwell,  and  when  they  founded  New  England,  for 
the  sake  of  a  reformed  reformation,  they  gave  a 
stimulus  to  human  civilization  and  human  progress 
which  has  not  yet  ceased  to  operate  in  Europe  and 
America.  All  nations  which  have  made  progress  in 
art,  literature,  science,  or  social  life,  have  been  in- 
spired with  a  faith,  more  or  less  clear,  in  the  invisible 
and  eternal.  Let  atheism,  or  semi-atheism,  or  a  low, 
superstitious  theism  prevail ;  and  human  life  goes 
backward.  Let  faith  revive  ;  society  becomes  pure, 
strong,  and  progressive. 

And,  lastly,  I  believe  in  God,  because  this  faith  is 
needed  for  the  peace,  comfort,  happiness  of  individual 
man.  I  received,  not  long  ago,  from  some  friend,  a 
pamphlet  defending  atheism  and  attacking  religion 
with  a  certain  blind  zeal,  which  is  almost  pathetic. 
When  I  hear  such  words,  I  say,  "  Father,  foi'give 
them :  they  know  not  what  they  do."  The  atheist 
looks  through  the  universe,  and  finds  no  God.  He 
searches  the  furthest  nebula,  and  God  is  not  there. 
He  examines  the  structure  of  the  buman  body,  and 
finds  no  trace  of  the  divine  hand.     He  interrogates  the 


^O  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

past,  and  it  is  silent ;  he  demands  of  the  future,  and  it 
has  no  voice.  The  universe  is  a  great  dead  machine, 
clashing  on  and  on ;  coming  from  nowhere,  going 
nowhere  ;  made  for  no  end,  inspired  by  no  wisdom, 
filled  with  no  love.  Man  is  the  child  of  chance  and 
clay,  made  of  a  few  chemical  elements,  to  be  dis- 
solved into  them  again.  I  ask  him,  "  What  shall  I  live 
for.^"  He  replies,  "I  do  not  know.  Live  for  what 
you  please.  Eat,  drink,  and  die."  The  oppressed  cry 
out  to  God  to  help  them  ;  but  the  atheist  tells  them, 
there  is  no  God  to  hear  their  cry.  The  poor,  the  sick, 
the  wretched,  the  lonely,  are  happy  because  they  have 
faith  in  God.  The  atheist  takes  away  this  last  sup- 
port of  the  miserable,  this  last  restraint  on  the  power- 
ful, this  foundation  of  justice  between  man  and  man, 
this  terror  to  evil-doers,  this  strength  of  the  upright, — 
he  takes  it  away,  and  says,  "  Die  like  the  brutes,  in 
your  darkness  and  despair."  But  no  :  he  cannot  take 
it  away.  Man  is  made  to  believe ;  and  the  belief  in 
God  rests  on  surer  grounds  than  logic  or  demonstra- 
tion ;  namely,  on  human  nature  itself.  Some  truths 
are  self-evident  as  soon  as  men  look  at  them :  they 
need  no  argument,  and  cannot  be  demonstrated.  So 
Proclus  says,  "  He  who  thinks  that  all  things  can  be 
demonstrated  takes  away  demonstration  itself;"  and 
Epictetus  declares,  that  "  Whoever  denies  self-evident 
truths  cannot  be  reasoned  with,  for  he  has  no  intel- 
lectual modesty." 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  9I 

We  have  now  come  to  the  end  of  our  brief  sui'vey 
of  the  first  division  of  our  subject ;  namely,  of  the 
questions  between  the  atheists  and  tlie  tlieists.  We 
have  found  tliat  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible,  to 
demonstrate  the  existence  of  God ;  and  as  difiicult, 
if  not  impossible,  not  to  believe  in  God.  Ninety-nine 
men  out  of  a  hundi'ed,  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  be- 
lieve in  God  or  Gods,  outside  of  the  world  and  above 
it,  who  are  more  powerful,  and  more  wise  than  man. 
Most  of  tnose  who  deny  the  existence  of  God,  deny 
the  name  rather  than  the  thing.  They  substitute  for 
God  Nature,  or  the  Soul  of  the  World,  or  the  Nexus 
of  Laws  by  which  the  universe  is  governed.  But  they 
are  obliged  to  attribute  to  this  Web  of  Laws,  or  to 
Nature,  the  power  of  evolving,  out  of  itself,  order, 
beauty,  adaptation  of  parts  to  parts,  life,  growth,  in- 
tellect, will.  As  nothing  can  come  from  nothing,  all  this 
must  have  been  present  implicitly  in  the  Kosmos,  be- 
fore it  was  evolved  explicitly.  Consequently,  they 
believe  in  an  infinite  Kosmos,  containing  all  the  in- 
telligence, power,  wisdom,  law  now  extant,  and  capable 
of  producing  it  all ;  that  is,  they  believe  in  an  infinite 
Creator.  The  only  difterence  between  such  atheists 
and  theists  is,  that  the  atheist  supposes  his  Supreme 
Being  to  produce  intelligent  results  without  intelli- 
gence, and  unconsciously ;  the  theist  believes  him  to 
produce  them  intelligently  and  consciously. 

The  being  of  God  cannot  be  demonsti^ated,  because 
the  idea  of  God  is  the  unity  of  all  necessary  ideas,  — 


92  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

the  coming  together  into  one  of  the  ideas  of  necessary 
being,  pei"fection,  cause,  intelligence,  right,  beauty,  in- 
finity, and  personal  will.  Now,  as  each  of  these  ideas 
is  a  necessary  idea,  and  cannot  be  exj^laincd  out  of 
any  thing  more  simple  than  itself  (which  is  essential 
to  a  pxoof),  all  of  these  taken  together  cannot  be  ex- 
plained out  of  any  thing  more  simple.  Consequently, 
God's  existence  cannot  be  proved,  as  against  one  dis- 
posed to  deny  it.  But  this  is  no  misfortune  ;  for  in 
this  respect  belief  in  God  stands  on  the  same  basis  as 
belief  in  our  own  existence,  and  in  that  of  the  outward 
universe.  Neither  of  these  can  be  proved.  They  are 
not  believed  on  the  ground  of  argument,  but  are  known 
exjDcri mentally.  I  know  my  own  existence,  through 
consciousness,  by  a  mental  experience.  I  know  the 
outward  universe,  through  observation,  by  the  expe- 
rience of  the  senses.  We  commune  with  ourselves 
through  consciousness :  we  commune  with  nature, 
through  the  senses.  From  this  communion  results  our 
knowledge  of  each.  We  know  God  in  the  same  w'ay, 
just  as  far  as  we  commune  with  him  outwardly  and 
inwardly.  When  we  look  through  nature,  and  see, 
back  of  its  changing  events  an  inichanging  Cause, 
under  its  finite  phenomena  an  infinite  Substance,  and 
behind  its  manifold  adaptations  an  intelligent  de- 
sign,—  we  come  into  communion  with  God  through 
nature.  When  we  look  within,  and,  behind  our  wrong 
being  and  doing,  find  the  conception  of  a  perfect  right ; 
behind  our  lukewarm  afi'ections,  the  idea  of  a  perfect 


FROM    ATHEISM    TO    THEISM.  93 

love  ;  and  behind  our  sorrows  and  weakness,  the  un- 
dying hope  of  a  perfect  peace,  —  we  commune  with 
God  inwardly.  All  knowledge  comes  from  communion 
or  intercourse  ;  that  is,  action  and  reaction.  We  can- 
not know  any  thing  passively.  Knowledge  arises  from 
life.  The  knowledge  of  the  outward  world  comes 
from  sensible  experience,  or  living  contact  of  the 
senses,  by  action  and  reaction.  Knowledge  of  our- 
selves comes  from  conscious  experience,  by  looking 
in  upon  ourselves,  and  setting  the  soul  into  a  living 
activity.  And  so  knowledge  of  God  does  not  come 
passively  to  any  man  ;  but  only  as  he  communes,  by  an 
active  spiritual  experience,  with  God  ;  or,  as  the  Bible 
says,  "  Spiritual  things  must  be  spiritually  discerned." 


SECOND    STEP. 


FROM  THEISM  TO   CHRISTIANITY. 


*'Tn  tne  guise  of  human  natures, 
Folded  round  his  deep  lieart  now, 
Manhood  gracious  in  his  features, 
Godhood  glorious  on  his  brow." 

Julia  Ward  Howb. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Historic  Christ. 

"XTTE  have  taken  the  first  step  6f  belief,  in  rising 
•  '  from  atheism  to  theism.  The  second  step  is 
from  theism  to  Christianity.  And  here  we  encounter 
a  new  cLiss  of  opponents.  Hitherto  we  have  been 
dealing  with  materialists  and  atheists,  with  those  who 
deny  the  spirituality  of  man,  and  who  reduce  God  to 
a  foi'ce,  tied  to  matter.  But  now  we  encounter  those 
who,  believing  firmly  in  spirit  and  in  God,  deny  that 
Christianity  is  any  advance  beyond  theism. 

This  class  of  theists  have,  in  this  countrj^,  given  the 
name  of  "  Free  Religion"  to  their  system  of  belief. 
They  constitute  a  body  of  able  and  eai^nest  thinkers, 
whose  views  Christian  believers  cannot  afford  to  neg- 
lect. In  this  division  of  our  argument  we  shall,  first, 
meet  their  critical  objections  against  historic  Christian- 
ity ;  secondly,  their  metaph3^sical  objections  against  the 
theoiy  of  Christianity ;  thirdly,  we  shall  show  wherein 
Chi'istianity  is  an  advance  on  pure  theism  ;  and,  lastly, 
we  will  consider  some  special  objections  to  Christian 
facts  or  doctrines. 

7 


9S  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Before  proceeding  to  notice  the  objections  brought 
against  Christianity  by  Free  Religion,  we  may  prop- 
erly ask  what  are  the  ascertained  facts  concerning 
Christ?  What  historic  certainties  are  there  on  which 
we  may  base  any  after  theories?  What  do  we  know 
about  Christ? 

Sti.ctly  speaking,  we  cannot  be  said  to  knoiv  any 
historic  fact.  We  have  seen,  in  a  previous  chapter, 
that  all  histoiy  is  made  up  of  probabilities.  But  these 
probabilities  sometimes  approach  so  near  the  limits  of 
certainty  as  to  amount  practically  to  knowledge.  We 
may,  very  properly,  speak  of  knowing  the  fact  of  the 
existence  of  Washington,  Napoleon,  or  Julius  Cajsar. 
In  this  popular  sense, ,  therefore,  we  ask.  What  do  we 
know  about  Christ  and  Christianity? 

First,  we  know  that  there  is  such  a  fact  as  Chris- 
tianity. Christianity  is  one  of  the  great  religions 
of  the  world.  It  is  the  religion  of  Europe  and 
America  ;  only  slightly  to  be  found  in  Asia  or  Africa. 
It  is  the  religion  associated  with  the  highest  form 
of  human  civilization,  the  most  advanced  and  advanc- 
ing cultui-e,  and  the  best  morality.  It  is  the  religion 
of  the  most  enlightened  and  powerful  nations.  If 
you  wish  to  know  the  latest  discoveries  in  chemistry, 
astronomy,  or  geology,  you  do  not  go  to  Hindoo, 
Chinese,  or  Mohammedan  savatis^  but  to  the  scholars 
of  Christendom.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  best  works  of 
art,  either  pictures  or  statues  ;  or  to  read  the  best  books, 
the  deepest  philosophy,  the  noblest  poetry,  —  you  still 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  99 

go  to  Christendom,  not  to  the  Mongols  or  the  Arabs. 
If  you  wish  to  know  the  history  or  geograpliy  of  the 
earth,  you  must  have  recourse  to  European  Hbraries, 
maps,  and  globes.  The  commerce  of  the  globe  is  in 
Christian  hands  ;  and  the  sails  which  whiten  the  five 
oceans  are  surmounted  by  the  ^ag  of  some  Christian 
nation.  Chi-istendom  contains  the  power  of  the  world. 
Its  armies,  navies,  science,  literature,  art,  governments, 
manufactures,  mechanism,  commerce,  agriculture,  are 
incomparably  before  those  of  all  the  other  races  of 
mankind ;  and  Christendom  is  advancing,  while  they 
are  stationary  or  retrograde. 

We  do  not  say  that  the  civilization  of  Christendom 
is  the  result  of  Christianity  alone.  But  that  Christian- 
ity has  something  to  do  with  it  appears  from  the  fact 
of  the  close  association  of  the  religion  and  the  civiliza- 
tion. There  is  some  manifest  affinity  between  the  two. 
A  common  civilization  is  found  among  the  five  Aryan 
races  who  profess  a  common  religion.  The  two  Asi- 
atic members  of  this  family,  which  are  not  Christian, 
do  not  share  in  this  civilization.  It  is  not  therefore  the 
result  of  race  ;  for  the  Persians  and  Hindoos  belong  to 
the  same  ethnological  family  with  the  Greeks,  Latins, 
Celts,  Germans,  and  Slavi.  It  is  not  the  result  of  cli- 
mate, soil,  or  other  geographical  conditions.  These 
were  the  same  in  Germany,  Norway,  England,  and 
Russia  a  thousand  years  ago  as  they  are  to-day ;  but 
no  civilization  ai'ose  in  those  regions  until  their  inhab- 
■*ants  were  converted  to  Christianity. 


lOO  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Christianity  has  been  the  religion  of  Christendom 
for  at  least  fifteen  centuries.  Under  Constantine,  in  the 
year  325,  it  became  the  religion  of  Rome.  It  then 
was  so  powerful  a  faith  that  it  conquered  the  Roman 
empire.  Where  did  it  come  from.''  Such  an  effect 
must  have  a  cause.  What  was  its  cause .''  What  cre- 
ated Christianity? 

Go  back  another  century,  —  a  hundred  years  before 
Constantine.  We  still  find  Christianity  as  a  wide  ex- 
tended faith,  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa ;  with  its 
bishops,  its  theologians,  its  churches,  its  rites  and  cere- 
monies, its  great  writers,  its  numerous  books.  But 
especially  it  had  its  Sacred  Book  ;  its  New  Testament, 
containing  the  four  Gospels,  the  Book  of  Acts,  and  the 
Epistles,  —  nearly,  if  not  quite,  the  same  books  which 
we  have  now.  This  New  Testament  we  find  in  Asia, 
Africa,  and  Europe,  li'enaius  —  who  lived  in  Gaul, 
at  Lyons,  about  a.d.  180,  and  wrote  before  a.d.  200  — 
was  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  who  was  a  disciple  of 
John.  He  quotes  largely  from  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke, 
and  John  ;  calling  the  Gospels  by  these  names.  Away 
in  this  western  part  of  Europe,  they  then  I'ead  the 
same  four  Gospels  which  wc  read  now.  And  about 
the  same  time  Tertullian  in  Carthage,  in  Western  Africa, 
was  quoting  tlie  same  books.  And  Clement  in  Alex- 
andria was  doing  the  same.  And  Origen,  after  him,  did 
the  same.  Therefore  wc  find  this  stor}-  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  we  now  read  and  believe,  was  read  and  beheved 
by  Cln'istian  churches  in  all  parts  of  tlie  civilized  world 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  lOI 

seventeen  hundred  years  ago.  Now  go  back  two  hun- 
dred years  further,  and  what  can  we  discover  concern- 
ing Christianity  ?  Nothing.  There  was  no  Christianity 
in  the  world.  The  reign  of  Augustus  has  sent  down 
to  us  a  great  number  of  works  by  the  best  authors. 
It  was  an  era  of  intellectual  light.  If  Christianit}'  had 
existed  before  or  during  that  period,  we  should  have 
heard  of  it  from  Cicero,  Horace,  Virgil,  Ovid,  Sallust, 
or  Livy.  There  is  no  trace  of  it :  it  did  not  exist  in 
the  age  of  Augustus ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later  it  is  in  every  part  of  the  Roman  empire, 
and  all  these  churches  point  back  to  Judaea  as  the  ori- 
gin of  their  faith  ;  all  say  it  comes  from  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth. From  all  the  churches  of  Gaul,  Italy,  Greece, 
Carthage,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Asia,  in  the  second 
centur}^  lines  converge  towards  Galilee  and  Jerusalem 
at  the  beginning  of  the  first.  It  is  as  when  you  see 
in  the  sky  rays  of  light  converging  from  every  side 
toward  a  dark  cloud.  You  say,  at  once,  that  the  siui 
is  behind  the  cloud  at  the  point  where  they  seem  to 
come  together.  By  the  same  reasoning,  we  say  Chris- 
tianity must  have  begun  in  Galilee  and  Judtea,  toward 
the  beginning  of  the  first  century. 

Christianity  must  have  had  its  commencement  and 
its  cause.  Its  commencement,  we  have  seen,  must 
have  been,  just  about  the  time  when  the  New  Tes- 
tament reports  Jesus  to  have  lived,  and  just  in  the 
same  place.  All  the  churches,  all  Christendom,  have 
declared  their  faith  to  have  come  from  him,  and  to  be 


r03  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

contained  in  these  books.  This  is  the  reason  for  be- 
lieving in  Jesus  as  the  Founder  of  Christianity  ;  and  for 
believing  that  his  life  and  teachings  are  contained,  sub- 
stantially, in  the  four  Gospels :  we  believe  it  for  the 
same  reason  that  we  believe  any  other  fact  of  history,  — 
because  all  the  testimony  is  that  way.  History  rests 
on  faith  in  human  testimony.  Take  away  that  faith, 
and  no  history  would  be  possible.  Now  we  have  seen, 
that  Christianity,  as  an  immense  phenomenon  in  human 
history',  must  have  had  a  cause  ;  that  it  must  have  com- 
menced in  Judaea  in  the  time  of  Jesus ;  that  all  the 
testimony  of  all  the  Christian  churclies,  is  that  Jesus 
is  its  Founder;  and  that  his  life  is  in  the  New 
Testament.  If  you  do  not  accept  such  testimony, 
you  have  no  ground  for  believing  in  any  historical  fact 
at  all,  and  history  ceases  to  exist. 

Why,  for  example,  do  we  believe  in  the  existence 
and  wonderful  career  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who, 
finding  himself  at  the  age  of  twenty,  king  of  a  small 
country,  marched  to  the  conquest  of  Asia  with  35,000 
men,  —  about  the  number  contained  in  one  of  our  army 
corps,  —  conquered  Asia  Minor  ;  defeated  half  a  mil- 
lion of  Persian  troops  at  Issus  ;  took  Tyre  ;  conquered 
Egypt ;  defeated  another  army  of  a  million  men  at 
Arbela ;  entered  Babylon,  Susa,  and  Fersepolis ;  con- 
quered all  Persia  ;  crossed  tlie  snow  mountains  into 
Bactria ;  entered  India,  and  defeated  King  Porus 
there  ;  and  having  established  a  mighty  empire,  and 
altered  permanently  the  course  of  human  events,  died 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  IO3 

at  the  age  of  thirty-two  years?  Why  do  we  beheve 
such  a  marvellous  story  as  this  ?  We  have  no  account 
of  his  life  from  any  contemporary  writer :  Arrian, 
Plutarch,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  Qiiintus  Curtius,  — 
his  four  Evangelists,  —  all  lived  three  centuries  after 
him.  But  his  life  and  career  stand  solidly  in  history, 
accepted  by  all.  Why?  Because  the  testimony  we 
have,  is  all  that  way ;  and  because  other  events  of  the 
age  fit  into  it.  For  the  same  reason,  we  believe  in  the 
life  of  Jesus,  —  only,  in  his  case  we  have  also  the  tes- 
timony of  eye-witnesses  and  contemporaries. 

Since  Christianity  began  in  Palestine,  among  the 
Jews,  and  somewhere  about  the  beginning  of  the  first 
century,  it  must  have  begun  in  one  of  two  ways,  — 
either  by  the  teaching  of  a  single  great  prophet,  or  by 
a  gradual  development  out  of  previous  religions.  Re- 
ligions have  commenced  in  both  ways.  Some  great 
religions  have  no  authors,  but  have  grown  up  out  of 
the  spirit  of  their  nation  and  age.  Such  were  Brah- 
minism,  and  the  religions  of  ancient  Egypt,  Greece, 
Rome,  and  Scandinavia.  But  others  have  had  single 
great  prophets  for  their  founders  ;  as  those  of  Moses, 
Confucius,  Zoroaster,  Mohammed,  Buddha.  The  first 
class  of  religions  are  developed  very  slowly ;  the 
second  class  come  suddenly,  in  a  single  generation. 
Christianity  arose  suddenly,  within  a  very  short  period  ; 
therefore  it  must  have  belonged  to  the  second  class,  and 
have  had  a  prophet  for  its  author. 

That  the  account  of  Jesus  in  the  four  Gospels  is 


104  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

substantially  correct,  appears  from  the  nature  of  the 
narrative  and  the  narrators.  A  consistent  picture  of 
his  character  rises  in  our  minds  as  we  read  the  Gos- 
pels, composed  of  the  traits  which  they  contain.  But 
these  Gospels  are  put  together  without  any  method ; 
with  no  biographical  art.  The  Evangelists  simply 
"remember :  they  do  not  compose.  They  seem  to 
have  made  themselves  into  so  many  mirrors  placed 
around  Jesus,  to  I'eflect  his  actions  and  words  down 
through  the  ages.  If  you  place  four  mirrors  around 
a  statue,  each  will  contain  something  which  the  others 
have,  and  something  which  they  have  not.  So  the 
Evangelists,  each  adding  some  original  traits  to  the 
picture,  contain  also  repetitions  of  each  other's  story. 
It  does  not  appear  that  they  tliemselves  understood  the 
character  they  are  describing,  or  the  motives  of  his 
actions.  They  are  evidently  iilled  with  awe,  love,  and 
admiration  for  Jesus  ;  but  they  never  undertake  to  ad- 
mire, or  to  describe  his  character.  Still  less  do  they 
enter  upon  any  critical  investigation  of  his  ideas,  his 
purpose,  or  the  meaning  of  his  career.  They  pho- 
tograph his  life  as  the  sun  photographs  a  picture.  A 
photograph  may  be  imperfect,  may  be  blotched  and 
obscure  in  this  and  that  part ;  but  it  is  faithful.  Every 
thing  in  it  means  something  which  was  really  in  the 
original.  If  tlie  Evangelists  had  been  asked  to  write  a 
biography  of  Jesus,  in  the  style  of  Strauss,  Renan,  or 
Neander,  —  defending  this  fact,  accounting  for  that, 
and  exiDlaining  away  the  other,  and  so  making  a  por- 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I05 

trait  of  Jesus  according  to  their  own  philosophy,  —  they 
could  not  have  done  it.  They  did  not  understand  him 
enough,  to  invent  any  part  of  the  story.  They  can  nar- 
rate honestly,  simply,  sometimes  perhaps  erroneously, 
what  they  saw  and  heard  :  that  is  their  whole  power. 
If  they  are  inspired  writers,  their  historic  inspiration  is 
that  which  comes  from  love.  They  loved 'their  Master 
so,  that  all  he  said,  and  all  he  did,  was  precious  to 
their  hearts.  So  a  mother's  love  for  her  child  leads 
her  to  remember  all  his  little  speeches,  all  his  little 
ways.  There  is  no  memory  like  that  of  the  lover,  on 
the  living  tablets  of  whose  heart  are  imperishably 
stamped  all  the  looks,  the  smiles,  the  words  of  the 
idol  of  his  dreams.  What  Mary  is  reported  to  have 
done,  that  the  Evangelists  did  with  their  Master's  life  : 
they  "  hid  these  things  in  their  heart." 

It  is  clear  that  such  writers  as  these  could  never 
have  invented  the  character  they  have  given  us.  How 
could  they  have  conceived  a  character  which,  it  is 
evident,  they  do  not  understand  themselves  in  their 
own  report  of  it.^  And  how  could  four  writers  conspire 
to  invent  such  a  character,  and  then  communicate  it  in 
broken  inartistic  fragments,  which  must  be  carefully 
arranged,  and  put  together  by  successive  generations 
of  critics,  and  from  which,  thus  put  together,  there 
finally  emerges  the  gi^eatest  Personage  of  all  time? 

If,  then,  we  find  a  unity  in  the  character  of  Jesus, 
thus  represented,  it  is  evidently  human  and  historical. 
It  is  because  he   really  lived   and    moved   before   the 


I06  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

eyes  of  these  inartistic,  unpractised  narrators.  They 
give  us  all  they  saw  and  all  they  heard,  with  no  at- 
tempt at  consistency,  no  explanation  of  any  apparent 
contradictions.  They  make  themselves  wholly  into 
eye,  ear,  and  tongue.  They  see,  hear,  and  tell :  that 
is  all. 

Do  we  then  find  a  unity  in  the  character  so  de- 
scribed.^ and,  if  so,  what  is  it.'' 

Jesus  first  apjoears  as  a  Reformer  of  a  very  radical 
character,  and  yet  attaching  himself  firmly  to  the  past, 
—  holding  fast  to  its  vital  foith,  but  rejecting  its  tradi- 
tions. In  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  in  which  are 
brought  together,  apparently,  his  earliest  discourses, 
he  gives  a  new  interpretation  to  the  Mosaic  law ;  a 
new  view  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  or  reigfi  of  the 
Messiah  ;  of  alms-giving,  prayer,  and  fasting ;  of  the 
providence  of  God ;  and  of  the  essence  of  goodness. 
And  yet  he  declares,  that  he  has  not  come  to  destroy 
the  law,  that  he  has  come  to  fulfil,  not  to  destroy.  To 
fulfil,  here  means  to  carry  forward  to  a  fuller  jjerfec- 
tion.  The  letter  shall  not  pass  until  its  spirit  is  taken 
up  into  a  higher  form.  This  is  ah^eady  something  very 
unusual.  A  proj^het  is  commonly  a  one-sided  man, 
possessed  by  his  idea,  hurried  away  by  his  deep  con- 
viction of  one  truth,  or  his  horror  of  one  evil.  He 
does  not  stop  to  limit  or  qualify  :  if  he  did,  his  power 
would  be  gone.  He  must  commonly  overstate  anil  be 
extravagant,  or  he  does  not  say  all  he  feels.  But  Jesus 
never  overstated,  never  was  extravagant,  and  yet  spoke 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I07 

with  overcoming  authority.  Jesus  was  radical  and 
conservative  in  one.  Let  us  see  the  facts  which  show 
this  to  be  so. 

From  one  point  of  view,  we  may  say  that  Jesus  was 
the  greatest  Radical  that  ever  Hved.  He  set  aside  all 
forms,  not  impatiently  or  violently,  but  as  easily  as  a 
grown  man  puts  aside  the  foolish  notions  of  a  child. 
The  sabbath  was  only  sacred  to  him  as  it  helped  man. 
We  are  not  as  free  to-day  in  our  treatment  of  Sunday, 
as  he  was  in  treating  the  sabbath  of  his  time.  He 
healed  the  sick,  took  walks  in  the  fields  with  his  dis- 
ciples, and  did  many  things  which  it  was  not  lawful 
to  do.  In  regard  to  clean  and  unclean  meats,  distin- 
guished so  painfully  in  the  books  of  Moses,  he  said 
that  a  man  was  not  defiled  by  the  meat  which  went 
into  his  mouth,  but  by  the  words  which  came  out  of  it. 
People  still  call  a  church  the  "  house  of  God,"  as 
though  God  were  in  some  way  specially  present  in 
it.  But  Jesus  told  the  woman  of  Samaria,  that  not 
this  place  nor  that  place  is  a  place  of  worship  ;  but 
that  the  pure  heart  is  the  only  house  of  God  and  gate 
of  heaven. 

He  had  nothing  of  the  conventional  prophet  about 
him.  He  did  not  make  himself  a  saint  by  living  in  a 
cell,  eating  roots,  and  wearing  sackcloth.  He  came 
eating  and  drinking  like  others  ;  he  went  among  all 
sorts  of  people,  — old  men  and  little  children,  Samari- 
tans and  Phoenicians,  Roman  soldiers  and  the  unpop- 
ular tax-gatherers,  the  honest  and  pui-e,  the  soiled  and 


I08  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

stained.  All  this  was  new  and  strange  ;  but  he  does 
not  lay  stress  on  it  himself,  or  call  attention  to  it,  or 
proclaim  it  as  a  discovery  of  his  own.  He  does  it  as 
simply  and  naturally  as  if  there  were  nothing  new  in 
it.  But  his  ideas  were  more  radical  than  his  manners. 
Judaism  was  a  law,  a  system  of  rules  ;  its  God  a  Law- 
giver and  Law-avenger,  Judge,  and  King.  Jesus  did 
away  with  law  and  rule,  writing  the  law  in  the  heart. 
To  say  your  prayers,  is  not  to  pray  ;  to  repeat  words, 
is  not  to  pray.  He  gives  no  command  to  pray  at  all ; 
but  only  says,  "  When  thou  prayest,"  let  it  be  in 
secret,  talking  alone  with  God,  without  many  words ; 
for  God  hears  you  before  you  begin  ;  saying  what  you 
really  feel,  not  what  you  think  you  ought  to  feel ;  and 
in  faith,  speaking  to  God,  as  sure  that  he  hears  you 
and  will  help  you  as  when  you  go  to  your  neighbor's 
house  to  ask  him  to  help  you  lift  a  stone  which  is  too 
heavy  for  you  to  raise  alone.  To  murder  a  man  is 
not  merely  to  stab  him  with  a  knife,  or  beat  him  with 
a  club.  It  is  to  stab  him  with  a  bitter  word,  to  bruise 
his  heart  with  an  unkind  suspicion.  Licentiousness 
is  in  the  ungoverncd  desire,  the  indulged  imagination, 
the  irregular  thought.  To  fast,  is  not  to  look  sad, 
and  to  make  a  merit  of  abstinence  ;  it  is  not  to  parade 
our  sacrifices.  But  it  is  to  give  up  what  we  like,  and 
say  nothing  about  it ;  to  make  sacrifices,  and  be  happy 
in  doing  it,  cheerful  givers  for  the  sake  of  God  and 
man.  Truth  is  not  in  keeping  one's  oath  or  promise  : 
truth  is  in  having  our  words  in  exact  correspondence 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  IO9 

to  our  thought ;  without  promising  at  all,  to  be  simply 
sincere.  Goodness  is  not  in  loving  and  helping  good 
people  and  agreeable  people  ;  but  in  finding  some- 
thing good,  something  to  love,  in  evei'y  one. 

For  God  is  not  law  and  Law-giver,  King  and  Judge, 
chiefly  ;  but  Friend,  blessed  Friend,  to  all  his  creatures. 
He  docs  not  love  the  good,  and  hate  the  evil :  he 
sends  soft  rain  and  heavenly  sunlight  to  comfort  the 
sinner's  heart.  He  is  not  above  nature  only,  as  an 
awful  power ;  but  in  every  flower  that  blushes  in  its 
beauty  by  the  meadow  streaxTi,  in  every  star  that 
flames  on  the  midnight  sky.  Every  little  bird  that 
droops  and  dies  in  its  nest  falls  as  softly  into  God's 
hand  as  do  his  saints  and  martyrs.  Little  things 
which  we  despise,  God  prizes,  counting  every  hair  of 
our  heads.  Goodness  is  not  in  talk  or  profession,  but  in 
action.  He  does  not  follow  me,  says  Jesus,  who  cries 
Lord !  Lord !  the  loudest ;  but  he  who  does,  not  my 
will,  but  my  Father's  will  most  truly.  The  man  who 
rudely  and  impiously  says  to  God,  "  I  will  not  obey," 
but  then  repents  and  obeys,  is  better  than  the  man  of 
solemn  piety,  who  says  all  holy  things,  and  then  for- 
gets to  do  them. 

How  radical  is  all  this  !  How  this  subsoil  plough 
goes  under  the  roots  of  all  popular,  fashionable  religion 
in  Christ's  day,  and  perhaps  in  ours  too.  Is  it  not 
curious  that  his  rebuke  seems  to  strike  us  as  squarely 
here  in  America  now,  as  it  did  his  neighbors  in  Naza- 
reth and  Cana  then  ? 


no  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  Judaism  in  which  Jesus  had  been  educated 
was  a  law,  a  system  of  rules.  He  tenches  that  rules 
are  nothing,  but  the  spirit  every  thing.  Judaism  was 
the  worship  of  an  all-holy,  all-powerful  Jutlge  and 
King  above  the  world  ;  rewarding  the  good,  punishing 
the  evil.  Jesus  taught  a  Father,  who  sees  his  prodigal 
child  a  great  way  oft';  who  sends  blessings,  not  wi"ath, 
on  sinners ;  and  is  more  glad  when  the  naughty  child 
comes  back,  than  he  is  because  the  good  boys  and  girls 
are  behaving  well.  Judaism,  finally,  was  an  intense 
nationalit}'^,  a  narrow  bigoted  belief  in  one  people, 
as  the  special  favorite  of  God.  Jesus  taught  a  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  which  the  poor  in  spirit,  and  the 
meek,  and  the  pure  of  heart,  should  belong,  all  of  right. 
He  said  that  many  should  come  from  the  cast  and 
west  and  sit  down  with  Abraham  and  Isaac,  when  the 
Jews  should  be  cast  out ;  that  God's  house  woidd  be 
filled  by  those  taken  from  the  by-ways  and  the  hedges. 
He  taught  that  the  heathen  who  had  never  heard  of 
Judaism  or  Christianity,  would  find  at  the  last  day  that 
they  were  Christians  without  knowing  it,  when  they 
fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  visited  the  sick,  and 
were  kind  to  the  stranger.  So  independent  was  Jesus 
of  the  Judaism  around  him  ;  so  radical  in  his  reform 
of  its  traditions ! 

And  yet  he  could  say,  as  we  have  seen,  that  he  did 
not  come  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  to 
fulfil  them.  He  did  not  break  with  the  past :  he  recog- 
nized the   law  of  growth   by  which   the    stalk    comes 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  Ill 

from  the  seed,  the  blossom  from  the  stalk,  the  fruit 
from  the  blossom.  So  he  remained  a  Jew,  went  to  the 
Jewish  feasts,  worship|)ed  in  the  Jewish  Temple,  and 
accepted  the  part  of  the  Jewish  Messiah.  He  took 
the  old  forms,  and  filled  them  full  of  a  higher  meaning. 
Thus  the  boldest  radicalism  would  have  been  the  best 
conservatism,  had  the  Jewish  people  consented.  Had 
they  taken  him  as  their  true  King,  he  would  have  made 
them  the  leaders  of  the  human  race.  For  he  would 
have  preserved  the  whole  spirit  of  Judaism,  while 
dropping  its  letter.  Its  forms,  which  separated  them 
from  mankind,  would  have  disappeared.  But  the  no- 
ble spirit  of  Judaism,  —  its  faith  in  one  supreme  and 
living  God,  making  all  men  brethren,  as  the  Jews  were 
brothers,  —  this  would  have  been  the  atoning  principle 
to  unite  all  men  together. 

This  was  the  vast  idea  of  Jesus.  In  this  sense  he 
understood  himself  to  be  the  Messiah  foreordained 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Before  Abraham 
was,  he  was  the  Christ  of  God  ;  a  King,  born  and  sent 
into  the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth.  In  him 
culminated  the  long  preparations  of  history.  He  was 
the  Heir  of  all  things ;  and  in  him,  as  the  Centre 
of  humanity,  all  the  races,  religions,  and  civili- 
zations of  the  earth  were  to  be  made  one.  This  was 
his  great  aim, — the  highest  object  which  the  human, 
mind  can  conceive.  The  fact  that  he  claimed  to  be 
the  Christ  and  Son  of  God ;  his  including  among  his 
subjects  all  who  loved  the  truth,  and  obeyed  it ;  and 


112  STEPS    OF   BEI.IEF. 

his  expectation  that  there  should  be  but  one  fold  and 
one  Shepherd,  —  these  prove  that  the  universal  human 
leadership  of  the  race  was  the  mission  he  had  ac- 
cepted as  his  own. 

Thus  far  all  is  historical  and  all  human.     But  now 
we  must  take  another  step.     To  believe  one's  self  the 
leader  of  the  human  race,  and  to  be  so,  are  two  dif- 
ferent things.     To  be   the   leader  of  a   single   race,  a 
single  nation,  during  a  single  period,  —  it  is  only  nec- 
essary to  be  fully  possessed  with  the  ideas  of  tliat  race, 
nation,  and  period.     But  to  lead  the  human  race  as  its 
religious  Guide,  it  is  necessary  to  be  universal,  to  omit 
nothing,  to    embody   all   the  essential  ideas  of  human 
religion.     Did  Jesus  do  this?    This  is  what  Free  Re- 
ligion denies,  and  Christianity  asserts.     Free  Religion 
considers   Jesus   as    one    great  Teacher,   perhaps    the 
greatest ;  but  to  be  passed  by  at  last,  and  left  behind ; 
possibly,  already  passed  by.     But  Christianity  accepts 
Jesus  as  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man  ;  perfect  man  in 
his  character,  fulfilling  the  idea  of  man  ;   also  perfect 
manifestation  of  God,  showing  to  men  their  Heavenly 
Father  peiiectly,  —  "the  image  of  the  invisible  God," 
and  the  First-born   (or  Chief)  of  the  whole  creation. 
Accoixling  to  this  view,  he  is  never  to  be  left  behind, 
but  to  grow  more  and  more  into  the  love  and  faith  of 
the  world,  until  he  has  united  the  human  race  iw  one 
brotherhood.      He  is  to  reign  till  he  has  subdued  all 
enemies  under  him  ;  and  then  he  is  to  deliver  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father. 


FROJI    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  II3 

Free  Religion  denies  that  any  one  man  can  be  all 
this ;  because  to  be  this  imj)lies  perfection  of  nature, 
and  all  men  are  imperfect.  But  in  denying  that  any 
man  can  be  perfect,  Fi'ee  Religion  seems  to  be  yet 
hampered  by  the  fatal  doctrine  of  hereditary  and  entire 
depravity.  Why  should  not  one  man  be  perfect  ?  Is 
sin  so  natural  to  man,  that  perfection  is  unnatural? 
Were  we  made  to  be  sinners,  made  to  be  always 
wrong?  Many  men  have  approached  a  spotless  per- 
fection ;  why  should  not  one  man  have  attained  it  ? 
We  are,  all  of  us,  perfectly  good  at  some  moments 
in  our  lives,  when  we  submit  wholly  to  truth  and 
love, — why  should  not  one  man  have  been  always 
in  this  state  of  entire  submission  and  entire  love?  Jesus 
had  no  such  doubt.  He  did  not  believe  that  man  was 
necessarily  imperfect :  he  became  perfect,  in  order  to 
be  the  Author  of  the  same  perfection  to  all  who  obey 
him.  He  said  to  the  average  men  about  him,  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  we  are,  "  Be  perfect,  even  as 
your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

But  when  we  claim  perfection  for  Jesus,  what  do  we 
mean  ?  Not  divine  perfection,  but  human.  To  be  per- 
fect, is  to  be  entire  and  absolute  in  the  human  order  as 
(jrod  is  in  the  divine  order.  When  we  say  that  Jesus 
was  the  one  perfect  Being,  we  do  not  make  of  him  a 
faultless  monster,  nor  take  him  out  of  the  human  and 
historic  order.  What  we  say  is,  that  he  fulfilled  the 
intention  of  God  concerning  man,  and  became  purely 
and  wholly  a  man  ;  and  thus  showed  to  us  that  we  can 

8 


114  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

do  the  same.  He  showed  that  shi  is  unnatural,  not 
natural  ;  that  we  are  not  so  tied  and  bound  by  weak- 
ness and  evil,  that  wc  cannot  love  God  and  man. 
Since  Christ  has  succeeded  in  this,  we  can  succeed 
too.    This  subject  we  shall  pursue  in  our  next  chapter. 

The  perfection  of  Jesus  was  moral  perfection.  It 
consisted  in  this,  that  he  lived  always  in  communion 
with  God,  as  we  live  sometimes ;  that  he  lived  always 
in  the  spirit  of  unselfish  love,  as  we  live  sometimes ; 
that  his  inspiration  was  constant,  while  ours  is  tran- 
sient. So  he,  in  the  2:)rovidence  of  God,  was  made 
and  became  the  Leader  of  the  human  race,  the  Inspirer 
of  faith  in  God,  the  Atonement  to  unite  all  in  one. 

The  one  great  outward  proof  that  Jesus  was  thus  the 
Christ  of  humanity,  the  ordained  Leader  of  the  human 
race  to  God  and  to  each  other,  is  found  in  his  resurrec- 
tion. This  is  the  only  miracle  on  which  the  apostles 
lay  stress  as  evidence  of  his  tnission.  Paul  does  not 
mention  the  other  miracles  in  his  speeches  or  letters, 
but  lie  dwells  constantly  on  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 
When  Jesus  appeared  to  die,  he  did  not  die  :  he  re- 
mained alive.  When  he  seemed  to  go  down,  he  did 
not  go  down  :  he  went  up.  When  he  seemed  to  go 
away,  he  did  not  go  away  :  he  remained.  The  "power 
of  the  resurrection  "  is,  that  it  shows  us  a  living,  ever- 
present  Christ,  with  his  church,  coming  back  to  us, 
coming  to  reign  more  and  more.  The  miracle  of 
the  resurrection  is  not  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, but  an  unveiling  of  the  higher  law  of  life.     It 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  II5 

shove's  US  in  death  a  going  up,  not  a  going  down  ;  a 
coming  near,  not  a  going  away  ;  a  fulness  of  immor 
tality. 

The  objections  to  tliis  view  are  chiefly  a  pi'iori  and 
metaphysical.  Theodore  Parker  believes  that  Christ 
was  imperfect,  —  not  that  he  sees  any  special  imperfec- 
tion in  him,  but  because  all  men  are  imperfect,  and 
must  be  so.  All  men,  no  doubt,  ai^e  finite.  No  one 
can  have  infinite  joerfection.  But,  unless  we  believe  in 
original  shi,  why  shall  not  man  attain  to  finite  perfection, 
to  the  perfection  of  human  nature?  Why  may  not 
Jesus,  in  the  providence  of  God,  — prejoared  by  organi- 
zation, educated  by  the  great  history  and  traditions  of 
his  people,  —  have  reached  this  point,  and  become 
the  perfect  man,  who  reconciles  religion  and  morality, 
faith  and  works,  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  and  is 
filled  with  that  divine  life  which  vs^ill  at  last  bring  to- 
gether all  races  and  all  religions  into  a  perfect  brothei^- 
hood  ?  As  far  as  I  can  see,  the  principal  objection  in 
the  way  is  the  belief  in  natural  depravity,  — the  belief 
that  all  men  must  be  imperfect,  and  that  therefore 
Jesus  must  have  been  so. 

Those  who  do  not  accept  a  necessary  depravity 
may  believe  in  Jesus,  not  as  one  among  many  past 
prophets  and  teachers,  who  did  their  work,  and  then 
■went  to  their  graves  ;  but  as  the  ever-living,  ever-pres- 
ent, inspiring,  and  saving  Friend  of  man.  We  may  be- 
lieve in  him,  as  the  one  who  liveth  and  was  dead,  and 
behold  he  is  alive  for  evermore.     His  life,  death,  and 


Il6  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

resurrection  ai"e  the  ho2:)e  and  strength  of  the  world. 
He  is  and  I'emains  our  King.  Because  he  was  foithful 
in  all  things,  he  became  perfect,  and  is  able  to  make 
us  so.  He  is  to  reign  till  he  subdues  all  things  under 
him,  by  the  power  of  his  truth  and  his  love.  All  this 
is  a  part  of  history.  He  is  not  the  less  hviman,  as  we 
si  all  see  in  the  next  chapter,  for  being  so  perfect,  but 
the  more  so.  For  man  was  made  to  be  perfect.  Jesus, 
our  Brother,  went  before  us,  in  the  high  providence  of 
God,  leading  the  way  upward  from  earth  to  heaven. 
The  more  we  believe  in  him,  the  stronger  and  better 
we  are. 

The  power  of  Christ  and  of  Christianity  consists  in 
this  immense  hope  for  man.  Jesus  saw  all  the  sin,  all 
the  ignorance,  all  the  weakness  of  man,  and  yet  hoped 
for  him.  He  foresaw  the  denial  of  Peter,  the  betrayal 
of  Judas,  saw  that  all  his  disciples  should  forsake  him 
in  his  hour  of  trial ;  and  yet  he  had  no  doubt  that  they 
were  all  to  be  one  with  him,  as  he  was  one  with  God. 
The  divine  character  of  the  great  prayer  in  the  seven- 
teenth chapter  of  John,  is,  that  it  is  filled  full  of  this 
absolute,  unwavering  hope.  About  to  die,  forsaken 
and  alone,  he  yet  says  that  God  has  given  him  power 
over  all  flesh,  to  give  them  eternal  life.  He  calls  on 
God  to  glorify  him  with  the  glory  he  had  with  him  be- 
fore the  world  was.  He  was  so  sure  of  the  faith  of 
his  disciples,  that  he  prayed  for  them  in  the  full  con- 
viction that  they  belonged  to  him  and  to  God,  and 
were  not  of  the  world  :  he  prayed  that  he  and  they 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  II 7 

might  be  one  in  God.  He  told  his  disciples  that  he 
was  to  return  to  theni  after  death,  and  remain  with 
them  ;  that  he  was  "  to  be  with  them  always,  even  to 
the  end  of  the  world."  He  told  them  to  go  into  all 
the  earth,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature. 
Filled  with  so  great  a  faith  in  God  and  man,  sure  that 
man  was  to  become  one  with  God,  and  that  all  dis- 
cord, sin,  woe,  wickedness,  were  to  cease,  —  he  went 
to  die,  attended  by  this  shining  light,  and  left  this  great 
hope  as  the  inspiration  for  all  time. 

And  now  we  ask,  has  Jesus  been  outgrown.''  In 
these  eighteen  centuries,  has  he  been  left  behind,  in 
any  one  particular,  by  the  advancing  race  of  man? 
Is  he  not  still  our  Leader,  Chief,  and  Friend;  the 
best  Friend  we  have,  our  Brother,  Teacher,  and  Mas- 
ter? Without  him,  and  his  religion,  what  satisfaction 
is  there  in  life,  what  hope  in  death,  what  comfort  in 
sorrow,  what  strength  in  our  weakness,  what  light  in 
our  darkness.'' 


CHAPTER    II. 

Nothing  Unnatural  in  Christ  or  in  Christianity. 

*■  I  ^HE  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  that  there  is 
-*-  nothing  unnatural  in  Christianity.  Christianity 
has  hitherto  been  opposed  to  rational  theism  by  defini- 
tions which  have  given  to  it  an  unnatural  character. 
Christ  has  been  assumed  to  stand  outside  of  nature  and 
histor}'.  His  religion  has  been  called  supernatural  in 
a  sense  which  made  it  seem  unnatural.  In  regard  to 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  w^e  find  two  distinct  and  seem- 
ingly opposite  views  prevailing  at  the  present  time. 
The  first  is  the  traditional  and  general  opinion  that  he 
w^as  not  like  other  men  in  his  person,  his  endowments, 
his  work,  or  his  character ;  that  his  person  was  super- 
human, his  endowments  supernatural,  his  worlc  mirac- 
ulous, and  his  character  intellectually  infallible  and 
morally  impeccable  ;  that  he  was  a  miraculous  creation, 
that  he  was  divinely  inspired  and  sent,  that  he  did  not 
sin,  did  not  err,  will  never  be  superseded,  and  is  the 
Master,  Lord,  King  of  the  human  race  for  ever.  Hence 
it  is  assumed  that  he  was  not  a  man  only  and  purely, 
but  somethin":  more. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  II9 

The  other  view  is  that  which  has  been  becoming 
more  and  more  popular  since  the  days  of  Theodore 
Parker,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  also  in  England, 
France,  and  Germany.  It  is,  that  Jesus  was  a  man 
like  all  other  men,  born  like  other  men,  formed  by  cir- 
cumstances as  other  men  are  formed,  partaking  of  the 
errors  of  his  age,  not  supernatural,  but  wholly  natu- 
ral ;  working  no  miracles,  not  infallible,  but  falling 
into  errors  ;  not  perfect  morally  ;  capable  of  being  su- 
perseded and  outgrown ;  and,  in  short,  purely  a  man, 
like  other  men. 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  two  theories,  so  utter- 
ly opposite,  nevertheless  agree  in  one  assumption. 
Both  assume  that  perfection  is  unnatural  to  man  ;  that 
man  is  necessarily  imperfect,  mentally  and  morally ; 
that  to  be  sinless  is  unnatural ;  that  to  see  truth  so 
clearly  as  to  be  certain  of  it  and  not  liable  to  be  inis- 
taken,  is  unnatural :  in  other  words,  that  it  is  not  natu- 
ral for  man  to  be  good,  and  that  a  perfectly  good  man 
is  necessarily  a  supernatural,  or  (what  is  thought  the 
same  thing)  an  unnatural  being. 

The  one  class  of  thinkers  say,  "Jesus  was  sinless 
and  infallible,  and  worked  miracles,  therefore  he  was 
superhuman."  The  others  say,  "  He  was  human,  and 
therefore  he  could  not  work  miracles  or  be  perfect." 
The  first  class,  wishing  to  believe  in  the  superiority  of 
Jesus,  think  it  necessary  to  believe  him  superhuman; 
tlic  other  class,  not  wishing  to  believe  him  supcrhu- 
inan,  think  it  necessary  to  deny  his  superiority.     Both 


I20  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

classes  agree  that  any  such  inward  superiority  as  is  as- 
cribed to  Jesus  in  the  New  Testament,  implies  a  super- 
human element.  That  is,  again,  both  classes  assume 
the  essential  poverty  of  human  nature. 

But  why  may  we  not  suppose  that  man's  nature  is 
higher  than  either  party  believes?  What  if  man  was 
made  to  be  all  Jesus  was ;  what  if  human  nature  is  not 
necessarily  sinful,  but  otherwise  ;  what  if  sin  and  error 
are  unnatural,  not  natural :  then  it  may  follow  that 
Jesus  did  all  that  he  is  claimed  to  have*  done  in  the 
Gospels  ;  that  he  is  all  that  he  is  described  to  have 
been,  and  yet  instead  of  being  at  all  unnatural,  is  a 
truer  and  more  perfectly  natural  man  than  any  other 
has  been.  Perhaps  the  greatness  of  Jesus  may  have 
been  just  here,  —  that  he  was  the  man  of  men,  the 
truest  man,  fulfilling  the  type  of  humanity.  Perhaps 
the  great  lesson  of  his  life  is,  that  human  nature  is  not 
essentially  evil,  but  good.  Perhaps  his  mission  was  to 
show  us  one  perfect  specimen  of  the  human  race  ;  one 
ideal  pattern ;  one  such  as  all  are  hereafter  to  be- 
come. 

If  this  view  be  correct,  then  it  may  reconcile  the 
war  between  the  Naturalists  and  Supernaturalists. 

The  Naturalists  can  then  accept  the  leading  facts  in 
the  life  of  Jesus,  and  yet  believe  in  him  as  a  puiX'ly 
human  being.  The  Supernaturalists  can  believe  in 
his  i^erfect  holiness,  wisdom,  and  power,  and  yet  not 
deny  his  simple  humanity.  I  propose,  therefore,  to 
adduce  some   facts  which  show  that  there  is  nothing 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  121 

claimed  in  the  Gospels  for  Christ  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  assumption  of  his  being  made  in  all  respects 
like  his  brethren. 

I  do  not  consider  the  question  of  his  supernatural 
birth  ;  first,  because  it  rests  on  a  different  kind  of  evi- 
dence from  the  other  facts  of  the  life  ofjesus,  of  a 
much  more  legendary  character ;  secondly,  because  it 
is  difficult  to  know  exactly  what  is  intended  by  the 
narrative  ;  thirdly,  because,  whatever  it  may  mean,  it 
cannot  imply  that  Jesus  was  not  a  man,  made  in  all  re- 
spects like  his  brethren.  I  am  willing,  as  a  Super- 
naturalist,  to  consider  this  whole  narration  as  legendary, 
not  having  the  histoiuc  stamp  of  the  rest  of  the  Gos- 
pels. 

I  will  begin  with  Jesus  on  the  purely  human  side  ; 
claiming  for  him  nothing  exceptional  in  his  nature  or 
birth.  I  will  admit  that  his  character  resulted,  like 
that  of  all  other  men,  from  these  three  factors,  —  or- 
ganization, education,  and  free  choice. 

How  much  of  goodness,  then,  may  he  have  inherit- 
ed without  being  superhuman? 

We  see  some  children  born  good.  They  seem  to 
lave  escaped,  to  a  very  great  degree,  the  innate  ten- 
dencies to  evil  which  others  suffer  from.  A  confluence 
of  compensating  influences  neutralizes  the  evil  in  their 
organization.  It  may  happen  that  opposite  faults  in 
parents  will  result  in  a  balanced,  well-j^roportioncd  or- 
ganization in  the  child.  At  all  events  we  kno\v  it  to 
be  a  fact,  that  the   child  of  parents  who  have  grave 


123  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

fiiults  of  character  is  often  born  free  from  them  all 
Can  we  not,  therefore,  believe  that  in  occasional  in 
stances,  there  may  be  a  child  born  in  whom  all  these 
depraved  tendencies  neutralize  each  other,  and  allow 
the  infant  to  begin  with  a  nature  like  that  of  the  pri- 
mal man,  —  liable  indeed  to  sin,  but  capable  of  escap- 
ing sin.  This  is  all  that  we  need  assume  concerning 
the  birth  of  Jesus  ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  this  which 
is  superhuman. 

The  second  source  of  character  is  education  ;  under 
which  term  we  include  all  influences,  outward  and  in- 
ward. Now,  we  see  many  cases  of  children  who  grow 
up  under  influences  peculiarly  favorable  to  goodness, 
—  influences  which  tend  not  to  deprave,  but  to  elevate. 
We  all  know  of  homes,  where  the  usual  atmosphere  is 
pure,  where  life  goes  on  temperately  and  serenely  ; 
where  conscience  and  truth  are  domesticated  ;  where 
love  makes  the  heart  happy,  and  warms  the  household 
intercourse  with  its  tender  fire.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
suppose  Jesus  to  have  grown  up  in  such  a  sphere  as 
this.  The  natural,  simple  piety  of  his  Nazarene  home, 
the  motherly  love  of  Mary,  the  innocence  of  that  coun- 
try life,  the  influence  of  that  beautiful  natural  scenery, 
the  teachings  of  great  prophetic  masters,  whose  works 
made  his  librar}',  the  expectation  of  the  JSIessiah,  — 
these  were  the  natural,  not  supernatural,  influences 
which  came  to  Jesus  to  make  his  education,  and  to  a 
genius  like  his  tliey  were  suflicient. 

Then  there  were  also  given  divine  influences,  —  in- 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 23 

flueiices  which  come  to  all,  —  to  lift  the  soul  of  the  child 
into  a  higher  insight.  God  is  not  far  from  any  one  of 
VIS.  We  all  receive  influences  from  him.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  believe  that  Jesus  received  a  higher  meas- 
ure of  that  Holy  Spirit  than  most  men  ;  that  the  divine 
Providence  which  gives  to  all  men  a  special  mission, 
gave  him  his,  and  that  he  received  a  full  and  constant 
current  of  inspiration  into  his  soul.  Consider  the  dif- 
ference between  the  mathematical  gifts  of  common  men 
and  those  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  ;  between  the  organiz- 
ing gifts  of  common  men  and  those  of  a  Hannibal  or 
a  Napoleon ;  between  the  poetic  gifts  (?f  common  men 
and  those  of  a  Dante  or  a  Shakspeare  ;  between  the 
artistic  gifts  of  common  men  and  those  of  a  Mozart  or 
a  Rafllielle.  There  is  nothing  superhuman  in  such 
extraordinary  endowments.  Why,  then,  doubt  that 
God  may  have  conferred  on  Jesus  a  like  moral  and 
spiritual  superiority  to  all  other  men,  making  him  the 
spiritual  Master  of  the  race,  as  these  are  its  masters 
in  science,  poetry,  war,  and  art. 

But  to  satisfy  the  faith  of  the  chuixh,  we  must  go 
farther  than  this.  We  must  accept  the  fact  of  the 
moral  integrity  of  Jesus  ;  that  Jesus  was  sinless  ;  that 
he  was  perfectly  pure  from  evil  from  the  first,  and 
all  the  way  through.  And  this  is  said  to  be  un- 
natural,—  superhimian.  But  why?  Was  man  made 
to  be  a  sinner,  or  to  be  free  from  sin?  Did  not  God 
intend  us  to  be  sinless?  Does  not  even  orthodoxy 
confess  tliat   God  made   man   naturally  good?      Does 


124  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

not  our  conscience  condemn  us  for  every  act  of  sin? 
And  is  not  that  a  proof,  in  our  very  nature,  that  wc  are 
not  compelled  to  sin?  Jesus  himself  does  not  consid- 
er his  own  perfection  as  exceptional,  but  calls  on  all 
men  to  be  like  him  in  this  matter :  "  Be  ye  therefore 
perfect,"  he  says,  "  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  per- 
fect." 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  said,  it  is  not  possible  that 
Jesus,  or  any  one  else,  should  be  morally  perfect, 
since  all  cx^^crience  shows  that  every  one  has  his 
faults  and  his  moral  defects.  But  does  it  follow  that 
because  the  great  multitude  of  any  class  of  beings  fail 
to  reach  the  perfection  of  their  class,  that  no  one  shall 
ever  reach  it.^*  Is  it  not  more  probable  that,  amid  this 
universal  aspiration  and  tendency,  one  may  at  last 
succeed.''  Ever}- plant  lias  its  typical  form.  Among 
ten  thousand  plants,  not  one  perhaps  reaches  it ;  but 
may  not  one  somewhere  arrive.''  The  typical  form 
of  an  elm-tree  is  of  a  perfectly  symmetrical  scries  of 
cun'es,  in  which  every  limb  curves  upward,  and  then 
bends  over,  and  then  falls  in  a  trailing  sweep  of  in- 
numerable lace-like  threads  of  greenery.  Out  of  a 
thousand  elms,  not  one  attains  this  perfect  symmetry. 
Some  few  almost  reach  it ;  but  do  you  say,  because 
you  have  never  found  a  perfect  elm,  that  it  is  unnatural 
for  an  elm  to  be  symmetrical?  No,  you  say  just  other- 
wise. The  true  nature  of  the  elm  is  to  be  found  in 
this  tendency  toward  perfection  ;  and  if,  at  last,  an 
elm    should   be   discovered  with  every   limb,  branch. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 35 

<wig,  and  leaf  in  perfect  proportion,  you  would  not 
call  it  unnatural,  but  the  final  attainment  and  fulfil- 
ment of  its  nature.  So,  if  somewhere  in  the  long 
reaches  of  human  history,  amid  all  its  sin  and  shame, 
its  hard  routine,  its  distortion,  its  bitterness,  its  false- 
hood, one  man  shall  appear  without  stain ;  always 
tender,  always  strong,  giving  his  life  for  his  race  ;  full 
of  faith  in  God,  full  of  hope  for  man  ;  without  dis- 
guise ;  without  pretence  ;  one  on  whose  pure  life  the 
attempt  to  find  a  spot  results  in  a  hypercriticism  so 
small  as  to  be  simply  ridiculous,  —  then  shall  we  say 
that  such  a  man  is  unnatural  and  superhuman,  and  not 
rather  that  he  is  more  human  than  any  one  else ; 
the  man  God  meant  all  men  to  be ;  the  one  who 
rev'eals  to  us  what  our  nature  really  is  ;  what  it  is 
really  capable  of;  what  it  is  one  day  to  become? 

"  But,"  sa3's  th§  Naturalist,  "  are  not  all  men  fallible.'* 
and  if  Jesus  is  only  a  man,  could  he  be  infallible  : 
must  he  not  have  fallen  into  error.?"  "To  err  is 
human  ;  "  therefore,  if  Jesus  was  human,  must  he  not 
have  erred  ? 

That  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  was  limited  ;  that  he 
did  not  know  all  sciences  and  arts  which  are  now 
known,  no  one  would  think  of  denying.  He  w^as  not 
sent  to  teach  astronomy  or  geology,  and  so  he  did  not 
know^  them.  He  even  says,  that,  concerning  the  time 
of  his  own  triumphant  coming,  he  is  ignorant :  "  Of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no  not  the  Son, 
but  the  Father  only."     But  that  he  made  mistakes  in 


126  STKI'S    OK    I5ELIEF. 

those  thing-s  which  he  professed  to  know,  is  another 
matter,  and  this  I  do  not  believe.  In  all  his  teaching 
concerning  God,  man,  duty,  immortality,  no  mistake 
has  been,  or  is  likely  to  be,  pointed  out ;  for  here  he 
spoke  from  knowledge,  not  theory.  These  were  the 
things  he  saw  by  the  intuition  of  his  soul,  so  he  knew 
them.  And  in  this  also  he  was  not  superhuman  ;  for 
this  is  true  of  all  men.  All  men  are  certain  of  that 
which  they  really  know.  If  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
knowledge,  then,  so  far  as  it  goes,  it  excludes  the  pos- 
sibility of  error.  A  mathematician  is  perfectly  sure 
of  the  laws  of  mathematics,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
discovered  and  verified.  An  astronomer  is  sure  of  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  so  far  as  they  have 
been  ascertained  and  verified.  All  modern  science 
rests  on  this  word  "verification."  Whatever  has  been 
verified  has  been  made  certain,  beyond  the  iDOssibility 
of  error.  Now  the  great  teachings  of  Jesus,  concern- 
ing God  and  man,  have  been  verified  by  the  experi- 
ence of  sixty  generations  of  Christian  men  and  women. 
They  have  guided  them  to  God  ;  they  have  rescued 
them  from  sin  ;  they  have  created  faith,  hope,  and  love 
in  himian  hearts  ;  they  have  conquered  the  fear  of 
death ;  they  have  consoled  the  sufierers  under  the 
burdens  of  life.  These  are  the  spiritual  verifications 
which  prove  the  insight  of  Jesus  to  be  knowledge. 

But  the  theory  of  the  Supcrnaturalists  goes  further, 
and  declares  that  Jesus  was  divinely  sent  to  be  a 
teacher   of  the   race  ;     that  he   had   a  divine   mission. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CIIIIISTIANITY.  \2*J 

Docs  not  this  make  him  unnatural,  and  separate  him 
from  hinnan  nature?  Only  if  we  disbelieve  in  Provi- 
dence. If  we  have  faith  in  a  living  God,  a  Father 
and  Friend  of  man,  who  does  not  only  interpose  once 
in  a  while,  but  is  present  always  in  human  affairs, 
then  ever}'  man  is  sent  to  do  a  work  ;  every  man  has 
a  mission  ;  a  mission  determined  by  his  capacities  and 
opportunities  ;  a  mission  which  no  one  can  fulfil  but 
himself,  since  every  man  has  his  proper  gift  from  the 
Lord.  The  mission  of  Jesus  differed  from  that  of  other 
men  in  these  two  points,  —  that  it  was  the  greatest 
work  ever  given  to  man  to  do,  and  that  he  saw  more 
clearly  what  it  was  than  other  men  see  theirs. 

But  was  the  work  of  Wesley,  for  example,  an  acci- 
dent? Was  the  work  of  Channing  undesigned  in  the 
providence  of  God?  Did  not  Martin  Luther  have  a 
mission?  Are  not  such  men  sent?  Every  prophet 
who  has  been  since  the  world  began,"  has  felt  a  call  to 
speak,  and  has  gone  to  do  his  work  often  in  the  heat 
and  bitterness  of  his  spirit,  often  unwillingly  and 
reluctantly.  They  hear  the  call  of  God  in  the  depths 
of  their  souls,  and  cannot  escape.  So  Jesus  heard  his 
call ;  only,  —  because  his  nature  was  so  deep,  his 
spirit  so  lofty,  his  mind  so  clear,  his  heart  so  pure,  — 
he  heard  his  great  call  more  distinctly,  and  knew  that 
God  had  chosen  him  among  all  men  to  be  his  true 
Chiist.  But  neither  in  this  was  there  any  thing  un- 
natural or  superhuman. 

And  when  men  talk  of  Christ's  work  being  super- 


128  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

seded,  we  must  ask  what  it  is  that  can  be  superseded 
in  his  work?  Can  truth  ever  be  superseded  or  out- 
grown ?  Can  the  time  come  in  which  it  will  not  be 
true  that  "  the  pure  in  heart  see  God  ;  "  that  "  he 
who  humbles  himself  shall  be  exalted"?  Will  the 
parables  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and  the  Good  Samaritan 
ever  be  outgrown?  Will  the  Lord's  prayer  be  anti- 
quated? Will  the  life  of  Jesus  cease  to  be  the  illustra- 
tion of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man?  What  then  is 
to  be  superseded?  Is  Christianity  to  become  larger, 
deeper,  purer,  higher?  Be  it  so.  That  is  the  very 
event  which  Jesus  predicted,  —  that  the  Spirit  of 
Truth  should  come  and  lead  men  into  all  truth.  But 
whatever  higher  form  religion  assumes,  it  will  not 
abolish  Christianit}^,  but  only  fulfil  it,  glorify  it,  and 
make  it  more  like  the  ideal  in  the  mind  of  the  Master. 
But  what  shall  we  say  concerning  the  miracles  as- 
cribed to  Christ  in  the  Gospels?  Are  not  these,  unnat- 
ural and  superhuman  facts  false  to  experience,  and 
opposed  to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  so  essentially 
incredible?  If  I  believed  these  wonderful  works  of 
Jesus  to  be  unnatural,  if  I  considered  .them  as  viola- 
tions of  law,  then  1  sht)ul(t  iiso  say  that  they  were 
essentially  incredible.  But  believing  them,  as  I  do, 
to  be  in  perfect  harmony  witn  law,  I  consider  them 
neitlier  unnatural,  nor  opposed  to  the  laws  of  nature. 
The  electric  telegraph  oi  the  photograph  would  have 
seemed  unnatural  a  lumdred  years  ago.  There  are 
mysteries  in  nature,  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 29 

world,  which  are  to  be  revealed  hereafter,  which  would 
be  to  us  as  incredible  as  the  miracles  of  Jesus  seem  now. 
I  believe  that  Jesus  cured  sickness  with  a  word  and 
a  touch.  I  believe  that  he  raised  the  dead.  I  believe 
that  he  rebuked  the  winds  and  waves,  and  fed  five 
thousand  men  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes.  I  believe 
in  the  majority  of  the  wonderful  efiects  upon  outward 
nature  ascribed  to  Jesus  in  the  Gospels,  first,  because 
of  the  historical  credibility  of  these  narratives ;  sec 
ondly,  because  they  are  simply  called  "  wonderful 
works,"  the  Evangelists  abstaining  wholly  from  any 
theory  concerning  their  supernatural  or  other  origin ; 
thirdly,  because,  as  Mr.  Furness  has  so  well  shown, 
they  are  the  spontaneous  outcome  of  the  nature  of 
Jesus,  and  utterly  refused  by  him  when  asked  for  as 
"  signs  "  or  pi^oofs  of  truth  ;  and,  fourthly,  because  we 
find  analogovis  facts  in  human  annals  showing  that 
such  a  250wer  is  latent  in  the  psychological  nature  of 
man.  Many  have  possessed  the  power  of  healing 
diseases  by  the  exercise  of  will ;  some  have  had  an 
instinctive  prevision  of  coming  events.  Is  it  not  to  be 
expected,  then,  that  when  the  perfect  man  arrives,  he 
shall  also  possess  in  the  most  eminent  degree  this 
power  by  which  the  soul  demonstrates  its  inherent 
supremacy  above  the  lower  forces  which  govern  in  the 
material  sphere  ?  These  miracles  of  Jesus  were  there- 
fore not  violations  of  law,  but  anticipations  of  great 
discoveries  to  come  hereafter.  These  wonders  may 
appear   natui'al   in  some  future  period.     A  thousand 

9 


130  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

years  hciice,  or  ten  thousand  years  hence,  they  may 
seem  to  be  as  natural  as  the  electric  telegraph  seems 
to-day.  Jesus  did  these  things  not  because  he  was 
superhuman,  but  because  he  was  wholly  and  absolutely 
human,  —  the  ripe  fruit  of  hiunanity,  the  fulness  of 
manhood ;  and  so  having  his  soul  e7i  rapport  with  the 
laws  of  nature. 

Now  this  view  of  Christ  is  the  very  view  taken  in 
the  New  Testament.  All  the  great  qualities,  powers, 
and  functions  of  Jesus  are  not  treated  as  monopolies, 
nor  as  his  exclusive  possession,  but  in  so  many  words 
are  spoken  of  as  gifts  which  he  came  to  impart  to 
other  men,  therefore  as  essentially  human.  Indeed, 
only  thus  can  he  be  considered  as  a  mediator.  For 
what  is  a  mediator.''  A  mediator  is  not  one  who  re- 
tains his  special  gifts,  but  who  is  a  medium  through 
whom  these  gifts  flow  to  others.  That  was  the  work 
of  Christ.  All  that  he  had,  all  that  he  was,  he  com- 
municated to  his  disciples  and  through  them  to  the 
world.  Did  he  work  miracles .''  He  says,  "  Greater 
works  than  these  shall  ye  do,  because  I  go  to  my 
Father."  Was  he  one  with  God?  He  says  of  his 
disciples,  "  That  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one. 
I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me."  Had  the  Son  of  maa 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin  ?  He  says  to  his  dis- 
ciples, "  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit  they  shall  be  re- 
.nitted  imto  them."  Was  he  perfect.?  He  says,  "  Be 
ye  perfect."  Was  he  sinless.'*  The  Apostle  John  says, 
"He  who  is  born  of  God  cannot  commit  sin."     Was 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I3I 

Christ  sent  to  be  Judge  of  the  world?  Paul  says 
that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world,  and  men,  and 
angels.  Did  Christ  "know  all  things"?  The  Apostle 
says,  "  Ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
know  all  things."  Is  it  said,  "  In  him  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead,  bodily  "  ?  The  Apostle  prays 
for  the  Ephesians  that  ye  "may  know  the  love  of 
Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled 
with  all  the  fulness  of  God."  Is  it  said  that  "  all  men 
shall  honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  Father  "  ? 
Jesus  says  to  his  disciples,  "  He  that  heareth  you,  hear- 
eth  me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me  ;  "  and, 
"the  glory  which  thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them." 
Was  Jesus  "King  and  Priest"?  It  is  written  that 
"  He  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God."  Did 
he  suffer  and  die  for  mankind,  and  so  make  atone- 
ment for  them  ?  The  Apostle  Paul  distinctly  says,  that 
he  himself  was  "  to  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the 
afflictions  of  Christ."  Finally,  if  Jesus  was  sent  to  be 
a  Saviour,  in  any  special  or  peculiar  sense,  his  disciples 
are  sent  in  the  same  way  ;  for  he  says,  "  As  my  Father 
hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  New  Testament  will  therefore  show  that 
Jesus  had  nothing,  and  received  nothing,  which  he  did 
not  have  and  receive  as  a  mediator,  by  communicating 
all  to  his  disciples,  and  through  them  to  the  human 
race.  We  have  referred  above  to  passages  of  the  New 
Testament  which  declare,  i^sissimis  verbis,  that  he 
meant  his  disciples  to  receive  his  power  of  working 


133  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

miracles,  his  oneness  with  God,  his  power  of  forgiving 
sin,  his  perfectness  of  character,  his  office  of  Judge,  his 
omniscience,  his  divine  fulness,  his  honor  and  glory,  his 
kingship  and  priesthood ;  and  that  they  should  share 
with  him  in  his  atoning  work. 

It  has  been  objected  to  Jesus  that  he  taught  the  doc- 
trine of  a  devil,  and  that  of  demoniacal  influence,  and 
so  encouraged  superstition. 

As  regards  the  doctrine  of  a  devil,  Jesus  speaks  of 
the  devil  {zlid^oXoi;)  five  times,  and  of  Satan  (jLaravag) 
six  times.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he  calls  Peter 
Satan,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,"  because  he  had, 
in  kindness  and  with  a  good  purpose,  tempted  him  to 
avoid  going  to  Jerusalem  to  die.  This  shows  that  he 
used  the  word  to  personify  all  temptation.  On  one  oc- 
casion he  uses  the  word  devil  {/Jid^o).og)  in  the  same 
way,  "  Have  I  not  chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you 
is  a  devil  ? "  He  says  to  the  Jews,  "  Yc  are  of  your 
father,  the  devil,"  where,  again,  he  certainly  is  not  using 
"devil"  in  any  personal  sense,  but  as  meaning  the 
power  of  evil.  It  can  hardly,  therefore,  be  argued  that 
Jesus  has  taught  the  existence  of  Satan  or  the  devil  in 
the  sense  since  held,  as  an  evil  being,  the  incarnate 
power  of  evil  and  sin,  wholly  given  over  to  darkness. 
He  uses  "  devil"  as  the  principle  of  temptation. 

As  regards  demoniacal  possession,  I  think  that  Jesus 
believed  in  it,  and  that  he  spoke  to  tlie  evil  spirits  as 
tliough  tliey  would  hear  him.  A  few  years  ago,  I 
thought  tliat  he  shared  a  popular  error  in  this,  which 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I33 

this  century  has  outgrown.  But  within  a  few  years  I 
have  been  led  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  demoniacal 
possession.  I  have  myself  known  personally,  or  by 
credible  testimony,  of  at  least  half  a  dozen  instances  of 
persons,  who,  after  havin'g  allowed  themselves  to  be- 
come spiritual  mediums,  seem  at  last  to  have  been 
taken  possession  of  by  a  low  and  unclean  order  of 
spirits.  And  the  best  way  of  rescuing  them,  when 
they  were  too  far  gone  to  help  themselves,  was  to  have 
some  other  person  possessing  greater  spiritual  force  do 
what  Jesus  did  ;  namely,  order  the  spirit  to  go  away. 
I  believe  that  in  certain  places  and  periods,  the  nervous 
condition  of  men  is  such,  that  the  lower  order  of  ghosts 
may  get  a  control  over  them,  and  that  when  Jesus 
came,  it  was  just  such  a  time  and  place  as  this. 

We  began  by  the  statement  that  both  Naturalists  and 
Supernaturalists  agree  that  if  Christ  did  what  he  is  re- 
ported to  have  done,  and  was  what  the  Gospel  describes 
him  to  have  been,  he  was  not  a  man,  but  something 
superhuman.  The  Naturalists  deny  that  he  could  be 
superhuman,  and  so  deny  that  he  did  the  works.  The 
Supernaturalists,  believing  and  asserting  that  he  did 
the  works,  think  it  necessary  to  assert  also  that  he  was 
superhuman. 

We  have  seen  that  we  can  differ  from  both,  and 
agree  with  both.  We  can  agree  with  the  Supernat- 
in-alists,  that  Christ  was  what  the  Gospels  claim  ;  and 
agree  with  the  Naturalists,  that  he  was  a  pure  man, 
and  not  superhuman.     We  may  differ  from  both  by 


134  STEPS    OF    HKLIEF. 

taking  the  position  that  in  human  nature  there  is  place 
and  room  for  all  the  great  qualities,  powers,  and  gifts, 
ascribed  to  Jesus  in  the  Gospels. 

And  now,  in  what  sense  shall  we  call  Jesus  our 
Lord  and  Master?  Not  in  any  sense  which  violates 
the  perfect  freedom  of  our  thought,  and  perfect  con- 
scientiousness of  our  actions.  But  he  is  our  Lord  and 
Master,  because  "  every  one  that  is  of  the  Truth  heareth 
his  voice  ; "  because  he  is  the  Good  Shepherd  who 
goes  before  the  flock,  and  they  follow  him  ;  because  he 
is  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life ;  and  because 
through  him  we  come  to  the  Father,  and  find  God  a 
Father  and  a  Friend.  No  man's  conscience  or  freedom 
is  violated  by  taking  a  master,  and  receiving  with  trust 
his  advice  and  instruction.  In  fact,  no  progress  is  pos- 
sible for  men  without  such  guides.  Confidence  in  our 
teacher's  superior  wisdom  smooths  the  way,  leads  us 
on,  awakens  the  mind,  and  develops  the  soul.  All 
earnest  souls  seek  and  find  their  masters.  One  man 
takes  Parker,  Emerson,  and  Carlyle,  and  sits  at  their 
feet ;  another  takes  Herbert  Spencer,  Buckle,  or  Comte. 
One  set  of  artists  never  tire  of  studying  the  secret  of 
Titian's  color,  or  Michael  Angelo's  forms.  While  one 
class  of  students  feed  on  Carlyle,  he  himself  lives  upon 
Goethe.  As  long  as  Carlyle  abode  in  Goethe,  he  pro- 
duced much  fruit;  but  when  he  left  that  master,  he 
was  cast  forth  as  a  branch  and  was  withered.  He  then 
"shot  Niagara."  What  would  musicians  do  if  they 
had  not  their  musical  masters,  —  Mendelssohn,  Beet- 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 35 

hoven,  Mozart?  One  person  devotes  his  life  to  dis- 
cover "  the  secret  of  Hegel ;  "  another  to  "  the  secret 
of  Swedcnborg."  And  we  may  be  sure  of  this,  that 
the  only  men  who  will  discover  and  profit  by  the 
genius  of  tirese  masters,  are  those  who  study  them  with 
faith.  Only  faith  leads  to  sight.  Those  who  look  for 
faults,  find  -foults,  and  become  fault-finders  by  pro- 
fession ;  but  those  who  look  for  truth  and  good,  find 
that.  And  if,  among  all  these  masters,  there  has  been 
sent  one  to  be  a  master  on  the  highest  theme  of  all,  a 
teacher  in  the  realm  of  our  highest  life,  it  seems  to  be 
a  grave  mistake  to  assume  toward  him  the  attitude  of 
a  critic  rather  than  that  of  a  disciple. 

The  unquestioned  and  unquestionable  facts  which 
are  to  be  explained,  are  these  :  — 

1.  There  is  such  a  phenomenon  as  Christian  faith, 
which  must  have  come  from  some  source. 

2.  There  are  such  books  as  those  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, which  must  have  had  writers. 

3.  There  is  such  an  institution  as  the  Christian 
Church,  which  must  have  had  an  origin. 

That  such  a  pei'son  as  is  described  in  the  Gospels 
really  existed,  is  admitted  by  all  whose  opinions  are 
of  any  value ;  such  a  person  in  the  main.  It  is  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  a  Galilean  peasant,  of  wonderful 
powers,  sj)iritual,  intellectual,  and  moral ;  that  he  was 
able  to  rise  to  the  highest  point  of  spiritual  and  moral 
insight  which  man  has  ever  attained ;  that  he  went 
beyond  the  limitations  of  Judaism,  so  as  to  put  the 


136  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

spirit  above  the  letter,  and  find  the  essence  of  the  law 
in  love  to  God  and  to  man.  And  that  his  moral  and 
spiritual  personality  was  so  deep  and  high  as  to  con- 
stitute the  original  fountain  out  of  which  what  we  call 
Christianity  took  its  rise.  Other  streams  have  since 
flowed  into  the  river,  but  the  person  of  Jesus  is  its 
source  and  origin. 

If  we  deny  the  existence  of  such  a  j^crson  as  Jesus, 
we  are  obliged  to  assume   that  his  character  was  an 
invention  by  some  unknown  person  or  persons,  in  the 
first  or  second  century.;    that  the  four  Gospels  were 
written  by  these  persons,  and  this  wonderful  character 
placed  in  them,  and  made  to  act  and  live  and  speak 
as  we  find  him ;   placed  in  connection  with  historical 
persons  and  events  and  geographical  localities ;    that 
this  invention,  undetected,  was  admitted  as  a  reality ; 
that  Christianity  sprang  out  of  it ;    and  that,  by  the 
middle  of  the  second  century,  churches  were  founded 
on    the   firm  belief  in   the    existence    of  this   person, 
and    contained    those   who    pretended   to   have    seen 
and  talked  with  his  first  disciples.     And  this  would 
have  to  be  believed  in  order  to  disbelieve  the  origin  of 
Christianity  from  a  person ;  when  we  know  that  the 
great  movements  of  history  usually  come  from   per- 
sons ;  that  from  the  personalities  of  Confucius,  Buddha, 
Zoroaster,  Mohammed,   Augustine,   Plato,   Aristotle, 
Luther,  great    moral   and   religious  movements    have 
proceeded  ;  and  that  tliis  is  the  most  usual  and  natural 
source  of  such  spiritual  phenomena. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I37 

Since  all  phenomena  which  begin  in  time  must 
have  a  cause,  the  three  phenomena  of  Christian  faith, 
the  Christian  Church,  and  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  must  have  had  a  cause ;  and,  among  all 
possible  causes,  none  has  any  probability,  or  any  evi- 
dence in  its  support,  but  the  personal  character  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  endeavored  in  this  chapter  to  show  that 
there  is  nothing  unnatural,  and  therefore  incredible,  in 
the  history  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament.  The  facts 
therein  may  be  historically  true,  and  yet  not  be  op- 
posed to  the  laws  of  nature.  We  will  only  add,  that 
it  is  wiser  to  believe  in  the  possibilities  of  human 
nature  than  to  disbelieve  in  them.  It  is  wiser  to 
believe  than  to  doubt  the  great  concurrent  facts  of 
human  testimony.  It  is  wise  to  believe  that  God's 
Providence  cares  for  the  world,  and  sends  its  great 
teachers  and  masters.  Faith  in  greatness  and  good- 
ness is  the  creative  force  in  the  moral  world,  the  power 
which  makes  and  remakes  civilization.  It  is  the  soui'ce 
of  progress,  and  so  accredits  itself  as  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  laws.  Belief  in  something  great,  in 
the  past  and  in  the  future,  is  the  motive  power  which 
carries  the  world  forward,  onward,  upward. 


CHAPTER   III. 

Christianity  an  Advance  on  Theism. 

TN  maintaining  that  Christianity  is  an  advance  on 
-*-  theism,  we  are  obliged  to  meet  the  objections  of 
several  very  able  antagonists,  w^ho  contend,  on  their 
side,  that  theism  is  an  advance  on  Christianity.  The 
doctrine  usually  known  as  "  Religious  Radicalism,"  or 
as  "  Free  Religion,"  denies  that  Christianity  is  the  ab- 
solute religion,  and  regards  it  as  limited,  and  soon  to 
be  superseded  and  left  behind  by  a  more  catholic  faith. 
It  holds  that  every  thing  true  and  good  in  Christianity 
had  ah^eady  been  taught  by  other  religions.  It  asserts 
that  the  time  has  come  when  Christianity  is  to  be 
rejected,  and  that  a  pure  theism  is  to  take  its  place 
and  do  its  work. 

Some  quotations  from  "The  Radical"  and  "The 
Index"  —  periodicals,  which  are  published  in  the  in- 
terest of  "Free  Religion"  —  will  sufficiently  establish 
the  correctness  of  these  statements.  The  writers  whom 
we  quote  are  careful  and  acute  thinkers,  and,  though 
diflering  on  many  points  from  each  other,  probably 
agree  in  the  above  statements. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I3<, 

Thus  (in  "The  Radical,"  January,  1S69)  Mr.  Sam 
uel  Johnson  says  tlaat  the  declarations  of  Jesus  con 
cerning  his  own  position  show  his  exclusiveness  ixna 
limitation.  "  Other  teachers,"  he  adds,  "in  that  age, 
and  prophets,  stirred  by  a  pure  spontaneity  in  eailier 
ages,  had  trusted  eternal  truth  to  its  own  authority. 
And  it  is  for  ever  true  that  the  noblest  form  of  spirit- 
ual affirmation  is  not  that  in  which  the  teacher  puts 
himself  in  the  foreground,  but  that  in  which  he  hides 
behind  the  divinity  of  his  message."  The  earlier 
teachers  were,  therefore,  in  this  respect  superior  to 
Jesus.  Final  unity,  he  argues,  must  come  from  pass- 
ing from  Christ  and  Christianity  into  a  larger   theism. 

In  "The  Radical"  for  August,  1S6S,  Mr.  O.  B. 
Frothingham,  in  an  article  on  the  "  Historical  Position 
of  Jesus,"  objects  to  Theodore  Parker's  well-known 
sonnet  to  Jesus.     In  this  sonfiet  Mr.  Parker  says, — 

"  Thj  truth  is  still  the  light 
Which  guides  the  nations  groping  on  their  way, 
Stumbling  and  falling  in  disastrous  night, 
Yet  hoping  ever  for  the  perfect  day. 
Yes !  thou  art  still  the  Life  ;  thou  art  the  Way 
The  holiest  know;  Light,  Life,  and  Way  of  heaven  ! 
And  those  who  dearest  hope  and  deepest  pray 
Toil  by  the  Light,  Life,  Way,  which  thou  hast  given." 

Mr.  Frothingham  declares  that  it  was  sentiment,  not 
science,  which  inspired  this  sonnet ;  and  that  it  is  a 
mere  delusion  or  deceit  to  ofler  this  Jesus  of  conjecture 
to  mankind.  Mr.  Frothingham  denies  that  Jesus  was 
the  founder   of  a   church ;    or  author  either  of  a  re- 


140  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

ligion  ;  of  authority  in  belief,  or  ethics  ;  or  authority  in 
faith.  We  know  little  or  nothing  about  him ;  and, 
personally,  he  is  nothing  to  us,  —  thinks  Mr.  Froth- 
ingham. 

The  editor  of  "The  Radical"  (April,  1S6S),  in  an 
article  called  "  Humanity  versus  Christianity,"  says, 
"  Humanity  is  universal.  It  is  equality,  unity,  liberty, 
reason,  progress,  peace.  Christianity  is  partial.  It  is 
aristocratic,  limited  in  its  development,  slavish,  at  war 
Vi'ith  the  free  expansion  of  the  human  mind." 

Mr.  Abbot,  in  "The  Index,"  —  published  at  Toledo, 
in  Ohio,  —  contrasts  Christianity  with  Free  Religion, 
and  says  (in  his  "Fifty  Affirmations")  : 

"  34.  The  completion  of  the  religious  protest  against  au- 
thority must  be  the  extinction  of  Faith  in  the  Christian 
Confession. 

"35.  Free  Religion  is  emancipation  from  the  outward  law, 
and  voluntary  obedience  to  the  inward  law. 

"  50.  Christianity  is  the  faith  of  the  soul's  childhood  ;  Free 
Religion  is  the  faith  of  the  soul's  manhood.  In  the  gradual 
growth  of  mankind  out  of  Christianity  into  Free  Religion, 
lies  the  only  hope  of  tlie  spiritual  perfection  of  the  individual 
and  the  spiritual  unity  of  the  race." 

In  our  next  cliapter,  we  shall  examine  some  of  the 
criticisms  of  these  writers  on  Christianity,  and  their 
objections  to  it.  Our  piu-pose  now,  in  quoting  them, 
is  merely  to  show  that  they  regard  pure  theism  (or 
Free  Religion)  as  an  advance  on  Christianity  :  whereas 
we  believe,  and  arc  prepared  to  show,  that  Christianity 
IS  an  advance  on  theism. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I4I 

But  we  must  now  ask,  What  is  the  distuiction 
between  them  ?  Our  answer  is,  —  that  Christianity 
is  an  historic  rcHgion,  with  a  Founder,  a  church  or 
communion,  witli  its  sacred  books,  its  rites  and  cer- 
emonies, its  fixith  and  its  morahty.  These  doctrines, 
worship,  books,  church,  and  morals,  all  have  the  his- 
toiic  person  of  Jesus  for  their  centre  and  source. 

Theism,  or  Free  Religion,  on  the  contrary,  is  a 
system  of  belief  and  method  of  life  which  grows  up 
in  the  human  mind,  independently  of  any  such  his- 
toric source,  proceeding  only  from  the  soul  itself. 

We  are  happy  to  be  able  to  accept  here  one  of 
Mr.  Abbot's  definitions.  He  says,  —  correctly  as  we 
think,  — 

"  Christianity  is  the  historic  religion,  taught  in  tlie  Chris- 
tian Scriptures,  and  illustrated  in  the  history  of  tlie  Christian 
Church." 

Mr.  Abbot  gives  us  no  definition  of  '-Free  Religion," 
except  that  he  tells  us  that  its  ideal  is  self-development, 
and  that  its  corner-stone  is  faith  in  human  nature. 
But  at  all  events.  Free  Religion  rejects  the  authority 
of  all  historic  religion,  and  goes  back  to  the  instincts 
of  the  individual  as  its  origin  and  authority. 

It  has  been  usual  for  theologians  to  make  other  dis- 
tinctions beside  this.  For  example,  they  distinguish 
between  natural  and  revealed  religions,  rationalism 
and  supernaturalism,  human  and  divine  religions.  We 
do  not  accept  these  definitions,  nor  regard  them  as 
strictly  philosophical.      All  religions,  which  have  any 


142  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

truth  in  them,  are  revealed,  supernatural,  and  divine. 
If  man  ever  truly  sees  God,  it  is  by  God's  revealing 
himself.  He  reveals  himself  in  the  natui'al  vv^orld,  as 
well  as  in  the  spii^itual  world.  God  reveals  his  maj- 
esty and  his  benignity  in  the  law  of  gravitation  no 
less  than  in  the  life  of  Jesus  So,  if  "supernatural" 
means  a  violation  of  law,  no  religion  is  supernatural ; 
if  it  means  the  manifestation  of  higher  laws  tlian  those 
which  commonly  appear,  then  every  religion  has  its 
supernatural  side.  In  the  same  way,  all  religions  are 
natural,  rational,  and  human,  so  far  as  they  contain 
truths  and  influences  adapted  to  the  needs  of  man. 
Christianity  is  a  religion  of  nature,  inasmuch  as  it 
meets  the  wants  of  human  nature,  tends  to  unfold 
human  nature,  and  is  in  accord  with  human  reason. 
A  truly  divine  religion  must  also  be  truly  human, 
rational,  and  natural.  For  this  reason  we  set  aside 
the  old  definitions,  and  distinguish  Christianity  from 
"theism"  or  "Free  Religion,"  only  as  this  definite, 
positive,  and  historic  religion  is  distinguished  from 
the  religion  of  the  indlvidutU  x^eason,  whose  ideal  is 
self-development,  and  which  identifies  true  freedom 
with  a  protest  against  all  authority.  Christianity  is 
a  particular  historic  religion :  Free  Religion  is  the 
effort  of  the  solitary  soul,  seeking  for  truth,  goodness, 
and  beauty,  bj'  its  own  independent  eftbrts. 

We  will  now  attempt  to. show  why  Christian  theism 
i&  an  advance  on  any  kind  of  theism  outside  of  Chris- 
tianity. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I43 

Christianity,  by  its  methods,  goes  down  deeper,  goes 
up  higher,  goes  out  more  widely,  and  goes  on  further, 
than  any  other  form  of  tlieism.  It  goes  down  deeper, 
because  its  essence  is  life,  not  thought,  and  life  is 
deeper  than  thought.  It  goes  up  higher,  because  it 
obeys  the  law  of  mediation,  by  which  alone  ascent  to 
the  highest  regions  of  divine  truth  and  love  becomes 
possible.  It  goes  out  more  widely,  because  its  central 
life,  pi'oceeding  from  Jesus,  includes  the  germs  of  all 
human  tendencies  and  human  effort,  and  so  is  able 
to  satisfy  all  wants.  It  goes  on  fuither,  becavise  its 
method  of  progress  is  that  of  evolution  ;  preserving 
its  spiritual  identity,  but  advancing  from  form  to  form, 
according  to  the  needs  of  every  age. 

We  have  not,  of  course,  space  in  which  to  do  more 
than  indicate  this  argument.  But  we  shall  try  to  make 
the  substance  of  it  plain. 

I .  Christianity  goes  deeper  than  any  other  religion 
by  its  law  of  life. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  theism,  wherever  it  has 
appeared  outside  of  Christianity,  has  been  essentially 
thought,  while  inside  of  Christianity  it  is  essentially 
life.  Theism  reasons  about  God :  Christianity  lives 
from  him  and  to  him.  Theism  gives  us  speculations 
and  probabilities  ;  Christianity,  convictions  and  real- 
ities. Not  that  theism  undervalues  spiritual  and  moral 
life,  but  that  it  seeks  them  by  the  path  of  thought,  not 
that  of  spiritual  communion.  Nor  does  Christianity 
undervalue  knowledge,  but  it  seeks  knowledge  through 


144  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

life.  Theism  saj's  light  is  the  life  of  men  ;  Christianity 
declares  that  life  is  the  light  of  men.  Now  life  can 
produce  light ;  but  light  can  seldom  produce  life.  A 
living  religion,  even  if  it  be  narrow  and  shallow  as 
that  of  Mohammed,  is  sure  to  create  a  great  intellec- 
tual activity,  though  perhaps  only  a  transient  illumina- 
tion, as  was  that  of  the  Arabian  scholars  in  the  eighth 
century.  Christianity  —  a  life  of  fixith,  hope,  and  love  — 
has  in  all  ages  stimulated  to  thought,  created  great 
scholars  and  writers,  founded  schools  and  colleges, 
and  diffused  knowledge  among  the  people.  A  stream 
of  spiritual  and  moral  life  always  creates  philosophy ; 
but  when  did  speculation  or  philosophy  create  a  stream 
of  life.? 

If  philosophy  could  ever  create  life,  it  would  have 
come  from  the  Neo-Platonism  of  Alexandria  in  the 
second  and  third  centuries  after  Christ.  Some  of  the 
greatest  thinkers  and  purest  men  the  world  has  known 
then  attempted  to  found  a  large  unitary  religion  on 
the  basis  of  an  integral  philosophy.  Combining  the 
vast  ideas  of  oriental  tliought  with  the  Greek  philos- 
ophy, men  like  Plotinus,  Porphyry,  lamblichus,  Pro- 
clus,  Syncsius,  aimed  at  the  same  result  which  is  now 
attempted  by  the  writers  in  the  "  Radical "  and  the 
"Index."  They  meant  to  replace  Christianity  by  a 
grand  system  of  thought,  which  should  contain  also 
the  elements  of  religious  life.  But  they  made  tlie 
mistake  of  trying  to  get  life  out  of  thought,  instead  of 
thought  out  of  life  ;  and  so  they  failed. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 45 

Christianity  is  essentially  a  stream  of  spiritual, 
moral,  and  intellectual  life,  proceedins,-  from  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  He  did  not  present  it  as  an  intellectual 
system,  but  it  overflowed  from  his  lips  in  his  daily 
intercourse  with  men.  He  did  not  speak  from  his 
speculation,  but  from  his  knowledge.  He  spoke  what 
he  knew,  and  testified  what  he  had  seen.  This  living 
knowledge  created  like  convictions  in  other  minds. 
The  truth  was  its  own  evidence. 

Man  needs  this  knowledge.  We  need  to  know 
God,  not  merely  to  think  it  probable  that  he  exists. 
We  need  to  live  in  the  light  of  his  truth  and  his  love. 
We  do  not  get  this  knowdedge  of  God  by  reading 
books  of  theology,  but  by  communion  with  those  who 
have  it.  If  we  have  any  such  faith  in  God,  how  did 
we  first  obtain  it.''  We  caught  it,  as  a  blessed  con- 
tagion, from  the  eyes  and  lips,  the  words  treighted 
with  conviction,  the  actions  inspired  by  its  force,  of 
those  who  have  been  themselves  filled  with  its  power. 
They  too  usually  received  it  first  from  others  ;  though 
afterwards  it  may  have  been  fed  by  direct  communion 
with  God.  It  is  a  transn:iitted,  as  well  as  an  inspired 
life.  It  came  from  souls  in  whom  God  dwelt  abun- 
dantly, and  the  fire  of  whose  conviction  kindled  a 
flame  in  other  hearts.  This  flame  is  continual!}'  fed 
anew  by  the  great  prophets  of  the  race,  whom  God 
raises  up,  and  fills  with  a  double  portion  of  his  Spirit. 
And  the  deeper,  purer,  loftier  they  are,  the  more  do 
ihey  love   to  trace  back  the  great  master-impulse   to 

10 


146  STEPS    OK    UKLlFiK. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth.  "  Of  his  fuhiess  have  we  all 
received,"  say  they,  "  and  grace  upon  grace."  As  we 
see,  in  some  families,  the  influence  of  a  noble  ancestor 
prolonged  through  many  generations,  so  we  see  the 
life  of  Christ  prolonged  from  century  to  century.  To 
him  God,  the  Father  and  Friend  of  all,  was  a  reality 
and  the  greatest  reality ;  the  law  of  right  as  clear  as 
the  laws  of  the  material  universe ;  immortality  as 
certain  as  the  present  life ;  and  to  him  every  man 
seemed  truly  a  brother.  Nothing  but  a  faith  like  this, 
making  inward  realities  as  perfectly  certain  as  outward 
realities,  can  explain  the  effect  of  Christ  on  the  world. 
He  lifted  the  human  race  to  a  higher  plane  where  they 
could  see  God,  duty,  and  immortal  life,  face  to  face. 
As  the  Nile  flows  thousands  of  miles  through  iVfrica, 
carrying  fertility  on  its  ample  bosom,  —  issuing  from  the 
great  basin  and  lakes  .around  the  Equator,  —  so,  from 
this  source  has  flowed  a  stream  of  moral  life  down  to 
our  day.  Abandon  this  current  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, and  presently  you  find  yourselves  in  a  wilderness, 
a  barren  desert  of  mere  speculation.  God  tlien  be- 
comes an  opinion  ;  duty,  a  social  convenience  ;  immor 
tality,  a  perhaps. 

We  are  so  made  that,  while  our  opinions  are  sharp- 
ened and  systematized  by  independent  thought,  our 
convictions  are  fed  by  the  contact  of  living  souls. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  church.  It  is 
not  an  organization,  a  form,  a  creed ;  but  wherever 
two  or  three  really  meet  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  there  he 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I47 

is  present  in  the  midst  of  them.  Living  sonls  create, 
extend,  re-create  life  in  each  other.  When  we  reflect, 
reason,  specuhxte,  we  go  alone  ;  but  when  we  need  a  new 
power  of  faith  and  conviction,  then  we  go  to  others. 
We  seek  the  humblest  soul  in  which  God  dwells  :  we 
gather  new  strength  from  communion  with  all  believ- 
ing hearts.  We  put  ourselves  into  the  great  current 
of  a  common  faith  ;  and  drink  out  of  it  new  power, 
peace,  and  insight.  We  go  to  the  people  of  God 
wherever  they  are  ;  and  in  their  communion  we  are 
fed.  Now  this  need  of  tlie  soul  leads  us  back  to  Jesus, 
as  to  that  Vine  in  whom  we  are  all  branches.  This 
fact  illustrates  what  has  been  called  the  solidarity  of 
the  human  race.  The  formula  stated  philosophically 
is  this,  "  Man  thinks  alone  ;  but  he  lives  in  communion 
with  others."  And  in  our  Christian  religion,  this  com- 
mon life  is  the  life  coming  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
He  says  "  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch 
cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself  except  it  abide  in  the  vine, 
no  more  can  ye  except  ye  abide  in  me.  I  am  the 
vine  :  ye  are  the  branches." 

But  this  law  of  communion  is  not  recognized  by 
tlic  apostles  of  free  religion.  They  take  more  pleas- 
ure in  standing  apart,  to  think ;  than  in  coming 
together,  to  live.  They  even  prefer  speculation  to 
knowledge.  The  highest  of  all  virtues,  with  them,  is 
tiie  love  of  truth.  And  they  would  not  be  far  wrong, 
were  it  not  that  they  mistake,  for  the  love  of  truth, 
the   love   of  seeking   after  truth.      And    the   love   for 


148  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

seeking  truth,  rather  than  for  finding  it,  naturally 
leads  to  another  mistake.  It  makes  them  overvalue 
new  opinions,  and  undervalue  old  ones.  The  old 
truths,  iUready  attained,  do  not  give  any  opportunity 
to  these  strenuous  seekers ;  therefore  they  desire  nov- 
elty, and  call  men  "brave  thinkers"  in  the  exact  pro- 
portion in  which  they  disagree  with  the  rest  of  the 
world.  jNIr.  Johnson  (in  his  article  on  "  The  Fallacy 
of  Supcrnaturalism " )  quotes  with  admiration  the 
famous  sentence  of  Lcssing : 

"  Not  the  truth  which  one  possesses,  or  believes  himself 
to  possess,  but  the  honest  striving  after  truth,  is  what  makes 
the  worth  of  man.  If  God  should  hold  all  truth  enclosed  in 
his  right  hand,  and  in  his  left  only  the  ever-active  impulse  to 
the  pursuit  of  truth,  although  with  the  condition  that  I  should 
for  ever  err ;  and  should  say  to  me  Choose  !  I  should  fall 
with  suljmission  on  his  left  hand,  and  say.  Father,  give  ! 
Pure  truth  is  for  thee  alone." 

But,  with  all  respect  for  Lessing,  is  it  not  apparent 
that  such  a  clioice  could  not  proceed  from  the  lov^e  of 
Iruth.''  Apply  it  to  scientific  truth.  What  should  we 
think  of  a  chemist,  a  geologist,  an  astronomer,  who 
should  prefer  to  be  always  in  scientific  error,  —  pro- 
vided he  went  wrong  in  seeking  truth  himself,  —  rather 
tlian  to  possess  the  truths  of  science,  if  he  had  to 
accept  them  as  discovered  and  taught  by  others !  We 
should  not,  I  think,  call  him  a  strong  lover  of  truth. 

If  thought  could  ever  become  a  fountain  of  life,  it 
would   have   done  so   in  the  case  of  Socrates.      No 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I49 

more  sincere,  pure,  generous  seeker  for  truth  has 
ever  apjoeared  on  earth.  He  was,  as  Mr.  Emerson 
says  of  himself,  "  an  endless  seeker,  with  no  past 
behind  him."  But,  though  always  seeking,  he  seldom 
found.  The  net  result  of  his  speculation,  as  he  him- 
self declares,  was  only  the  knowledge  of  his  ignorance. 
He  opens  questions,  but  leaves  them  unsettled.  He  is 
a  thinker,  but  not  a  teacher.  He  is  a  perfect  illus- 
tration of  the  case  supposed  by  Lessing,  —  of  one  to 
whom  God  opened  the  left  hand  of  seeking  truth,  but 
not  the  right  hand  of  truth  itself.  And  what  was  the 
result  of  the  generous  labors  of  this  great  soul.^  The 
liistories  of  Philosophy  inform  us  that  he  founded  no 
school,  nor  continuous  movement  of  thought;  but  that 
iiis  moral  enthusiasm  ended  in  the  dogmatism  of  the 
Cj-nics,  and  the  happiness  doctrine  of  Aristippus ; 
while  his  keen  analytic  irony  produced  the  scepticism 
of  Megaris  and  Elis. 

The  problem  which  Christianity  solves,  is  the  union 
of  individual  life  and  common  life.  The  solitary, 
seeking  God  and  truth,  alone  in  his  lonely  hermitage, 
loses  his  love,  gi"ows  cold,  hard,  and  selfish.  The 
philanthropist  —  always  in  the  hurry  of  multifarious 
duties,  never  going  apart  to  think  and  pray  alone  — 
becomes  at  last  superficial,  shallow,  empty.  Chris- 
tianity feeds  the  individual  soul  by  prayer,  and 
communion  with  God ;  and  enlarges  the  heart,  by 
communion  with  Christian  bi-ethren  and  those  human 
sufferers  for  whom  Christ  died.     As  in  a  tree  there 


ISO  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

arc  ten  thousand  buds,  and  each  bud  has,  not  merely 
its  own  separate  movement,  but  also  partakes  of  the 
common  life  of  the  whole  tree,  —  so  it  is  in  Christi- 
anity. Love  to  God  purifies  the  soul  and  elevates  its 
separate  power:  love  to  man  warms  it  with  human 
sympathy,  and  the  joyful  sense  of  a  common  human 
nature. 

Cliristianlty  establishes  a  communion,  and  it  is 
through  such  a  communion  that  we  receive  moral 
life.  The  law  of  this  life,  proceeding  from  Jesus, 
consists  in  the  alternation  of  interior  solitary  aspiration, 
with  outward  receptivity  and  activity'  in  social  inter- 
course. It  thus  becomes  a  communion  with  God,  with 
Christ,  and  with  the  church.  All  prayer,  worship, 
service,  implies  this  reciprocal  activity.  Each  soul 
has  a  life  in  itself,  and  a  common  life  with  others, 
which,  by  mutual  action  and  reaction,  are  more  and 
more  unfolded.  In  Christianity,  more  than  in  any 
other  religion,  is  the  balance  kept  between  the  activity 
of  the  private  and  that  of  the  church.  In  Romanism, 
the  centripetal  force,  or  church-life,  predominates  ;  in 
Protestantism,  the  centrifugal  force,  or  the  life  of  the 
individual,  predominates  :  but  in  all  parts  of  the  church, 
and  in  all  its  epochs,  both  are  found,  mutually  i-egu- 
lating  and  renewing  each  other's  power. 

2.  Christianity  goes  higher  than  any  other  form  of 
theism,  by  means  of  its  law  of  mediation. 

"  Tlierc  is  one  God,"  says  the  apostle,  "  and  one 
Mediator  between  God   and   man,  —  the   man   Christ 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CUIUS TIANITY.  Ii^X 

Jesus."  Free  Religion  rejects,  with  indignation,  the 
idea  of  mediation.  It  declares  itself  unwilling:  to  Sfo 
to  God  through  any  other  soul.  It  declares  that  every 
one  ought  to  go  directl}'  to  God.  But  Christianity,  by 
its  law  of  mediation,  takes  a  higher  flight  than  theism 
without  it.  By  one  man,  in  whom  is  the  fulness  of 
the  divine  and  human,  it  brings  God  to  all  the  races, 
classes,  conditions,  and  characters  of  mankind.  The 
doctrine  of  incarnation  means  that  a  perfect  man 
becomes  again,  what  Adam  is  reported  to  have  been, 
the  image  of  God.  So,  those  who  see  him,  see  his 
Father.  We  look  upon  Christ,  and  in  his  life,  words, 
sorrows,  death,  resurrection,  we  see  expressed,  in  living 
symbols,  the  thoughts  of  the  Almighty  to  his  children. 
Thus  God,  —  who  is  afar  oft' when  seen  in  nature,  who 
is  dimly  manifested  in  the  mysterious  depths  of  the 
soul,  —  when  seen  through  this  human  medium,  comes 
near  to  his  children  as  Father  and  Friend. 

According  to  theism,  every  one  must-  rise  by  per- 
sonal struggle  and  solitary  eflbrt.  But  according  to 
Cliristianity  man  rises  by  joining  with  this  effort  the 
readiness  to  receive  and  transmit  the  divine  impulse 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Mediator.  Man  does  not  make 
any  less  eflbrt  on  this  account,  but  more.  By  helping 
ethers,  he  helps  himself.  By  becoming  a  mediator 
of  this  Christian  life  to  other  souls,  he  receives  more  in 
his  own.    The  law  is,  "  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  you." 

The  universe  of  spiritual  existence,  we  must  needs 
believe,  consists  of  a  vast  ascending  order  of  moral, 


152  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

intellectual,  and  spiritual  power.  It  is  a  hierarchy,  in 
which  are  angels  and  archangels,  thrones  and  do- 
minions, rising  above  each  other  in  a  never-ending  fligi»t 
tow^ard  God.  If  the  law  of  progress  was  merely  that 
of  self-culture,  each  one  struggling  to  rise  alone,  higher 
and  higher,  the  result  would  be  a  selfish  isolation. 
But  join  to  this  the  law  of  mediation,  announced 
and  illustrated  by  Jesus,  and  then  one  gi'eat  life  will 
llow  down  from  God,  along  the  whole  series,  to  the 
lowest  moral  being  that  exists. 

All  variety  tends  to  separation.  Therefoie  the  very 
eflbit  of  man  to  perfect  himself  (which  Mr.  Abbot 
declares  to  be  I'eligion)  would,  the  more  it  was  suc- 
cessful, only  alienate  man  the  more  from  man.  Diver- 
sities of  gifts,  of  education,  of  knowledge,  of  fidelity, 
enable  some  men  to  succeed  far  better  than  others  in 
the  effort  to  i^erfect  themselves.  One  man  has  five 
talents,  and  gains  other  five  talents,  and  becomes  ruler 
over  five  cities.  Another  has  only  one,  and  loses  even 
that,  by  not  improving  it.  If  this  law  of  retribution 
were  all  of  religion ;  if  this  natural  law  of  conse- 
quences were  the  whole,  —  then,  the  more  there  was 
of  religion,  the  more  there  would  be  of  divergence. 
But  this  is  compensated  by  the  antagonist  Christian 
law  of  mediation,  by  which  he  who  exalteth  himself 
is  aljased,  and  he  who  humbles  himself  is  exalted. 
All  true  elevation  consists,  not  in  getting  power,  good- 
ness, knowledge  for  ourselves,  but  that  we  may  mediate 
these  to  others.     Christ  became  perfect,  not  by  trying 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTTANITY.  153 

to  perfect  himself,  but  by  trying  to  help  others.  Because 
he  came  to  seek  and  save  the  lost,  because  he  humbled 
himself  to  the  death  of  a  slave  on  the  cross,  God  has 
highly  exalted  him.  His  greatness  and  glory  consist 
in  mediating  the  infinite  truth  and  love  of  God  to  his 
disciples,  w^ho,  in  turn,  mediate  it  to  others.  Thus, 
the  unity  of  the  race,  —  lost  irretrievably  if  Mr.  Ab- 
bot's religion  of  "  efibrt  to  perfect  one's  self"  were  all, 
—  being  supplemented  by  the  effort  to  save  others,  is 
more  than  regained.  The  divine  love,  incarnate  in 
Jesus,  passes  through  him  to  his  disciples,  and  to  all 
mankind. 

The  life  of  which  Jesus  is  the  Mediator,  and  which 
flows  through  the  communion  of  all  who  receive  it,  is 
the  life  of  God,  incarnate  in  man.  The  love  and  pit}'' 
of  Jesus,  the  truth  and  holiness  of  Jesus,  are  all  emana- 
tions from  heaven,  descending  into  our  world,  to  unite 
man  with  God,  and  man  with  man.  But  the  divine 
love  and  truth  come  according  to  an  ordei\  Some 
receive  them  first,  others  later.  It  was  ordained,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  that  Jesus  should  be  the  Mediator 
of  the  New  Covenant.  The  Old  Covenant  is  the  re- 
ligion of  effort,  which  says,  "  Struggle  to  perfect  youi*- 
self,  and  you  shall  reaj^  as  you  sow."  The  New 
Covenant  says  to  all,  whether  they  are  far  or  near, 
good  or  bad,  perfect  or  imperfect,  saints  or  sinners, 
"Receive  God's  love,  flowing  down  from  him,  through 
Christ,  and  so  become  one  with  God,  and  one  with 
each  other." 


154  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  substance  of  Christianity,  we  have  seen,  is  "not 
thought,  but  Hfe.  But  the  essence  of  that  life  is  the 
sight  of  God's  truth  and  love,  revealed  through  the  me- 
diation of  Christ  and  his  disciples,  to  save  the  souls  of 
all  mankind  from  sin  and  death.  Therefore  the  doc- 
trines of  the  incarnation  and  the  atonement  have  always 
been  the  pivots  of  Christian  theology.  The  incarnation 
means,  God  descending  into  the  soul  of  one  man  to 
make  all  humanity  divine,  to  unite  eartli  with  heaven, 
time  with  eternity,  man  with  God.  The  elevation  of 
the  human  race,  so  justly  dear  to  the  modern  theist, 
is  made  possible  by  this  great  j^rovidential  event  in 
human  history.  By  the  law  of  mediated  life,  God  is 
lifting  humanity  to  himself,  and  penetrating  the  bound- 
less variety  of  his  creation  with  as  pervasive  a  unity. 
When  Jesus  said,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one  ; "  "  he 
that  hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father ; "  and  then 
went  on  to  declare  that  the  glory  God  had  given  to 
him,  he  had  given  to  his  disciples,  that  they  might  be 
one,  as  he  and  his  Father  were  one,  "  I  in  them,  and 
thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfectly  one,"  — 
he  taught  those  great  vital  truths  which  theologians 
have  poorly  expressed  by  the  doctrines  of  incarnation, 
mediation,  and  atonement. 

The  doctrines  have  never  yet  been  satisfactorily  de- 
fined. But  the  facts,  underlying  these  doctrines,  have 
always  constituted  the  power  of  Christianity.  The 
Christian  life  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man  is  ever- 
more renewed  in  tlie  soul,  by  receiving  God's  redeem- 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I55 

ing  love,  mediated  through  Christ,  and  uniting  us  with 
God  and  man.  There  is  no  other  force  so  vital,  so 
inexhaustible,  as  this.  It  penetrates  to  the  lowest 
depths  in  every  heart ;  it  reaches  the  deepest  expe- 
rience of  evil ;  it  transmutes  sin  into  penitent  and 
grateful  love.  There  is  no  soul  so  high  as  to  have  out- 
soared  this  influence,  none  too  low  to  be  found  by  it. 

By  means  of  this  law  of  mediation,  Christianity 
makes  a  great  advance  on  every  form  of  theism  which 
omits  it.  Theism,  without  this  truth,  can  only  tell 
men  to  perfect  themselves  by  their  own  efforts.  This 
may  be  enough  for  the  strong  and  courageous.  But  it 
does  not  meet  the  wants  of  the  discouraged,  the  weak, 
the  sinful.  These  need  more  than  the  sight  of  law : 
they  need  that  experience  of  forgiving  love,  of  which 
Christ  is  the  Mediator  in  this  world.  When  we  say 
that  Christ  is  the  Mediator  of  God's  forgiving  love  to 
the  sinner,  we  merely  assert  a  foct :  we  do  not  state  a 
theoiy.  That  he  is  such  a  Mediator  is  no  matter  of 
theory ;  for  the  whole  experience  of  the  Christian 
church  declai-es  that  Jesus  has  brought  this  priceless 
boon  to  the  human  soul.  Those  who  were  afar  off 
are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Jesus.  His  death  and 
resurrection  have  set  the  seal  on  this  great  atoning 
power,  which  is  as  effective  now  to  create  love  to  God 
and  to  man  as  it  was  in  the  beginning. 

We  must  distinguish  between  the  facts  of  the  incar- 
nation and  atonement,  and  the  theories  concerning 
them.     The   church  doctrines  of  trinity,  incarnation, 


156  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

and  atonement,  may  be  all  wrong.  The  history  oi 
doctrines  seems  to  show  that  they  have  never  as  ye 
received  an  adequate  statement ;  since  very  opposite* 
views  on  these  points  have  been  regarded  as  ortbrdox 
at  different  periods.  But,  though  we  may  freely  criti- 
cise the  theology,  let  us  beware  lest  we  lose  sight  of 
the  facts  behind  and  below  the  theology.  The  theology 
has  been  only  an  imperfect  language,  by  which  the 
human  mind  has  feebly  attempted  to  state  its  expe- 
riences. An  imperfect  language  is  better  than  none. 
The  popular  heart  has  been  willing  to  make  use  of 
any  theology  which  seemed  to  express  its  conviction, 
that,  somehow,  God  comes  near  to  the  soul  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  that,  somehow,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  sense 
of  sin  is  taken  away ;  tliat,  through  Christ,  mortal 
fears  are  replaced  by  an  immortal  hope.  Enough. 
Call  it  trinity,  call  it  atonement,"  call  it  incarnation, 
call  it  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  call  it  a  mediatorial 
work, — the  fact  remains  unaltered  in  all  Christian 
experience,  that,  when  we  look  at  the  life,  the  death, 
the  work,  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  we  are  brouglit  into  '.he 
peace  of  God.     What  is  the  chutV  to  the  wheat? 

Higherthan  this  communion  with  God,  no  religion  can 
go.  Other  religions  sometimes  attain  to  it,  but  usually 
by  the  special  etlorts  of  select  souls.  In  Christianity 
God  comes  to  all,  and  comes  always.  "  My  Father  and 
I  will  come  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 

3.  Christianity  goes  out  more  widely  in  its  sym- 
pathy with  man  than  any  other  religion. 


FKOM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I57 

By  this  we  intend  the  universality  of  Christianity. 
Theism  accuses  it  of  being  narrow.  Free  Religion 
declares  that  Christianity  is  limited  by  a  creed,  which 
consists  in  professing  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ.  No 
doubt  if  this  be  a  creed,  Christianity  adheres  to  it,  in 
all  sects  and  all  denominations.  To  adhere  to  Jesus 
as  the  Christ  of  God,  is  the  very  root  of  Christian 
experience. 

But  does  this  make  Christianity  narrow.''  We  think 
there  is  no  religion  in  the  world  which  has  such  ele- 
ments of  catholicity,  because  there  is  no  religion  which 
is  inspired  by  so  deep  a  life.  All  that  is  in  Brahmin- 
ism  of  truth,  and  all  that  is  in  Buddhism  ;  all  the  good 
that  Socrates  sought,  Confucius  declared,  and  Zoroas- 
ter saw,  —  all  these  are  to  be  found,  as  essential  and 
vital  elements  of  Christian  life.  Other  religions  are 
the  religions  of  races :  Chi'istianity,  from  the  very 
beginning,  overleaped  the  barriers  of  nationality  and  of 
race,  and  found  its  disciples  in  all  lands  and  classes. 

Christianity  is,  by  its  principles,  as  broad  as  human 
nature.  It  knows  no  distinction  o^  Brahmin  and  Sudra, 
of  initiated  and  uninitiated.  It  comes  to  all,  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  bond  and  free,  inale  and  female. 
There  is  no  other  religion  so  catholic :  its  aim  is 
to  be  the  religion  of  the  humar^  race.  Therefore  it  has 
always  been  a  missionary  religion,  seeking  to  make 
converts  in  heathen  lands.  Before  the  Goths  con- 
quered the  Roman  Empire,  Christianity  had  conqnei'ed 
them.     It  has  never  found  a  race  which  could  not  be 


158  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Christianized.  The  half-frozen  Esquimaux  in  Greer 
land  wei'e  converted  by  the  Moravians,  and  the  life 
of  Christ  melted  their  rude  hearts  into  gratitude.  The 
fierce  Frank,  hearing  the  story  of  the  death  of  Jesus, 
cried  out  in  a  passion  of  horror,  "  Why  was  not  I  there 
with  my  brave  Franks,  to  prevent  it?"  The  Saxon 
thanes  came  together  in  a  great  building,  open  on  all 
sides,  to  hear  the  Christian  missionary  tell  his  story. 
They  listened  with  attention,  and,  when  he  had  fin- 
ished, one  of  them  rose  and  said,  "  Brother  thanes, 
this  man  has  come  from  far,  to  tell  us  of  God  and  the 
future.  If  he  has  any  thing  to  tell  us,  let  us  hear  him. 
For  to  me  it  seems  that  our  life  is  like  the  fliglit  of 
that  little  bird,  which  just  flew  into  tliis  hall,  out  of 
the  dark  night,  —  flashed  through,  lighted  for  a  mo- 
ment by  the  blaze  of  our  fire,  and  then  out  again  into 
darkness  on  the  other  side.  We  came  out  of  darkness  : 
we  go  into  darkness.  If  he  c-an  tell  us  any  thing,  let 
us  hear  it." 

When  Father  Marquette  discovered  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi, he  met  tribes  of  Indians,  at  war  with  each 
other,  and  each  received  him  kindly,  but  told  him  that 
the  next  tribe  on  the  river  would  kill  him.  But  he 
went  on,  armed  only  with  Christian  faith  and  love  ; 
and  still  found  his  way  to  their  rude  hearts,  as  he 
followed  the  windings  of  the  l)cautiful  stream. 

From  the  little  child,  who  has  just  learned  to  say 
"  Our  Father  in  heaven,"  to  the  great  intellect  of  a 
Shakspeare  and  a  Milton  ;  from  the  pure  saint,  giving 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 59 

all  of  life  to  chanty  and  prayer,  to  the  lost  child  of  sin, 
freezing  in  the  streets  of  some  roaring  Babylon  ;  from 
the  culture  of  Paris  to  the  barbarism  of  Australia, — 
Christianity  goes  and  comes,  and  has  a  word  of  truth 
and  love  for  all.  None  are  above  the  gospel,  none 
below  it.  It  reaches  down  its  beneficent  hands  to  lift 
the  leper  whom  no  one  else  will  touch ;  to  instruct  the 
Samaritan,  outside  of  all  healthy  religious  organi- 
zations ;  to  comfort  the  publican  and  sinner ;  to  en- 
lighten the  groping  unbeliever.  It  has  depths  where 
the  elephant  must  swim,  shallows  where  the  child 
can  wade.  It  has  mysteries  which  the  angels  desire 
to  look  into,  and  simplicities  which  he  who  runs  may 
read.  Herein  consists  the  breadth  of  Christianity.  It 
has  the  power  to  reach  all  sorts  of  people,  because  it 
has  something  for  all.  It  offers  forgiveness  to  the 
sinner,  peace  to  the  tx-oubled,  comfort  to  the  sorrowful, 
immortal  hope  to  the  bereaved.  It  teaches  the  rich 
how  to  use  their  riches,  and  the  poor  how  to  be  con- 
tented without  them.  To  the  ignorant  it  brings  light, 
in  its  schools,  its  books,  its  teachers :  to  the  learned,  it 
gives  the  key  to  deeper  knowledge,  and  the  means  of 
using  their  learning  for  good  ends.  By  its  variety  of 
sects,  creeds,  and  ceremonies,  it  meets  the  various 
tastes  and  tendencies  of  the  soul.  To  those  who 
love  forin,  it  offers  a  gorgeous  ritual ;  to  those  who 
seek  simplicity,  it  opens  a  Qiiaker  Meeting  or  a 
Methodist  Conference ;  to  thinkers,  it  gives  infinite 
subject  for  speculation ;    to  practical  persons  it  offers 


l6o  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

works  of  charity  and  benevolence.  For  those  who 
love  beauty  and  art,  it  has  its  architecture  ;  its  majestic 
cathedrals ;  its  sublime  music ;  its  immortal  paintings 
of  prophet  and  sibyl,  holy  martyr  and  tender  Ma- 
donna. Thus  it  shows  its  breadth  by  harmonizing  all 
antagonisms  in  its  large  communion,  its  ample  re- 
conciliation ;  bringing  so  many  varieties  into  unity  ; 
making  the  cow  and  the  bear  feed  together,  and  the 
lion  lie  down  with  the  lamb. 

This  is  the  work  it  is  doing  in  the  world.  It  has 
not  done  it  as  yet :  if  it  had,  the  millennium  had  ar- 
rived. But  while,  outside  of  Christendom,  piety  wars 
with  humanity,  faith  with  works,  ascetic  religion  with 
earthly  joy,  order  with  freedom,  law  with  liberty; 
and  so  we  have  despotism  with  order  here,  anarchy 
with  liberty  there  ;  religion  and  gloom  on  one  side, 
joy  and  licentiousness  on  the  other :  within  Chris- 
tianity we  find  a  principle  at  work  which  makes 
it  possible  to  be  free  yet  obedient ;  humble,  but  hope- 
ful ;  self-denying,  but  cheerful ;  pure,  yet  gay  ;  holding 
the  love  of  God  without  asceticism,  and  the  love  of 
man  without  atheism.  It  is  broad  as  the  nature  of 
man,  and  so  meets  it  everywhere. 

This  is  the  breadth  of  Christianity.  It  is  like  that 
of  the  ocean,  everywhere  embracing  the  land ;  thun- 
dering against  the  glaciers  of  Greenland,  kissing  the 
sands  of  Florida ;  adapting  itself  to  every  form  of 
every  coast ;  and  rolling  its  tidal  wave  into  every 
gulf,  sea,  and  estuary  in  all  the  zones,  and  ai-ound 
every  continent. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  l6l 

No  doubt  Christianit}'  has  often  been  forced  into  a 
creed,  —  a  Roman-Catholic  creed,  or  a  Calvinistic 
creed,  —  according  to  tlie  small  theory  of  some  small 
party  or  sect.  But  Christianity  itself,  unconscious  of 
these  little  limits,  continually  passes  beyond  them,  and 
outgrows  them,  leaving  them  all  behind.  So  have  we 
seen  little  boys  trying  to  dam  up  a  running  brook  with 
stones  and  sticks ;  but  the  brook  undermines  their 
dike,  and  runs  under  it,  —  rises  and  overflows  it,  and 
sweeps  it  away.  No  creed  made  by  man  has  ever 
been  able  to  restrain  the  expansive  force  of  the  gospel. 
Its  stream  of  life  is  like  one  of  our  New-England 
rivers,  barricaded  by  dikes  and  dams  all  the  way. 
Christianity  has  been  compelled  to  turn  the  wheels 
of  innumerable  sects,  each  manufacturing  in  its  mill 
some  patent  religion  of  its  own.  The  patient  river 
turns  them  all,  but  moves  on,  and  leaves  them  all 
behind.  All  may  use  it ;  but  not  one  can  monopolize 
it.  Christianity  is  not  a  mill,  grinding  out  special 
opinions,  —  but  an  influence,  creating  innumerable 
forms  of  thought,  but  not  itself  bound  by  any.  Some- 
times, in  its  affluence,  it  rises  in  a  freshet  of  thought, 
as  in  the  Protestant  Reformation,  and  sweeps  the  dams 
and  mills  away.  Christianity  is  not  a  creed,  but  a 
life,  proceeding  from  Jesus  Christ. 

4.  Christianity  is  an  advance  on  theism,  because  it 
has  a  greater  power  of  progress  than  any  other  reli- 
gion. 

There  are  two  methods  of  human  progress,  which 
II 


l62  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

may  be  designated  as  progress  by  revolution  and  prog- 
ress by  evolution.  The  first  is  illustrated  by  the 
movement  of  a  body  through  space,  the  other  by  the 
growth  of  a  plant  or  of  an  animal.  The  comet,  mov- 
ing toward  the  sun,  must  quit  one  point  entirely  in 
order  to  reach  another :  the  tree,  evolved  from  a  seed, 
takes  its  past  with  it  as  it  goes.  The  human  soul  may 
make  progress  by  change  or  by  growth.  It  will,  in 
the  first  case,  move  forward  from  a  low  position  to  a 
higher  one,  leaving  its  past  behind  it  for  ever.  To-day 
forgets  yesterday :  to-morrow  will  forget  to-day.  Or 
it  may,  without  any  quawd  with  its  previous  life,  and 
holding  all  it  has  gained,  continue  to  gain  more. 
Both  methods  of  progress  are  good  ;  but  the  last  is 
the  best. 

The  intellect  makes  progress  either  by  contending 
against  error,  seeing  mistakes  and  leaving  them,  being 
converted  from  one  view  to  the  opposite  ;  or  else,  by 
calmly  growing  up  from  truth  into  larger  truth,  from 
the  insight  of  to-day  into  the  deeper  insight  of  to- 
morrow ;  enlarging  past  knowledge,  not  leaving  it. 
Society  makes  progress  either  by  revolutions  or  by 
reforms.  The  surest  progress  is  always  of  the  latter 
sort:  the  best  reform  is  not  that  wliich  destroys  and 
annuls  the  past,  but  that  which  fulfils  it.  Science, 
to-day,  has  commonly  accepted  the  idea  of  change  by 
development,  for  that  of  change  by  crisis. 

Now,  in  the  place  of  the  Christian  law  of  progress 
by  evoluti  n,  the  teachers  of  free  religion  seem  inclined 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  163 

to  substitute  an  attempt  at  progress  by  revolution. 
Instead  of  developing  Christianity  into  some  higher 
Christianity,  they  desire  to  step  outside  of  it  altogether, 
and  begin  a  new  niovement  on  the  tabula  rasa  of 
simple  human  nature.  They  propose  to  drojD  Jesi.ii 
Christ,  as  something  outgrow^n ;  to  ignore  all  historic 
Christianity  as  insignificant ;  to  eliminate  the  marvel- 
lous element  from  the  life  of  Jesus,  as  being  no  better 
than  old  wives'  fables,  —  and  so  to  start  fjiir  with  the 
postulates  of  pure  unembarrassed  reason.  But  is  this 
I'eally  progress  ;   or  is  it  relapse  ? 

It  is  true  that  Mr.  Abbot,  and  other  writers  of  his 
school,  speak  of  Free  Religion  as  a  growth  from  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  no  doubt  they  may  regard  it  as  a  natural 
development.  But  in  progress  by  evolution  the  iden- 
tity is  preserved  throughout.  The  Christianity  of 
Jesus,  reaching  backwai'd,  identified  itself  with  the 
oldest  patriarchal  religion,  and  declared  that  before 
Abraham  was,  he  was  the  Christ.  It  found  itself  in 
the  prophetic  predictions,  and  saw  that  it  grew  natu- 
rally out  of  them.  Therefore,  both  Catholics  and 
Protestants  keep  the  patriarchal,  levitical,  and  pro- 
phetic religious  books  as  an  essential  part  of  their 
own  Sacred  Scriptures.  But  Free  Religion  does  not 
identify  itself  with  Christianity,  nor  with  Judaism. 
It  steps  out  from  the  Christian  church,  sets  aside  the 
Christian  tradition,  disclaims  allegiance  to  the  Chris- 
tian Head,  and  becomes  "  an  endless  seeker,  with  no 
past  behind  it." 


164  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Every  Christian  sect,  even  the  most  heretical,  holds 
to  tlie  root,  clings  to  Jesus,  and  considers  itself  as  the 
ripe,  consummate  flower  of  that  tree.  Free  Religion 
diflers  from  all  Christian  sects  in  this,  —  that  it  does 
not  profess  to  he  true  Christianity,  according  to  the 
mind  of  Jesus,  but  to  be  something  better  than  Jesus 
ever  saw  or  intended.  Its  root  is  not  in  Christianity, 
but  in  science  and  civilization.  Its  Bibles  are  the  last 
works  on  chemistry,  geology,  astronomy.  Its  pi"ophets 
are  Huxley,  Spencer,  Mill,  Tyndall,  and  Comte.  It 
sits  at  their  feet,  and  hears  their  words,  with  an  almost 
implicit  faith.  It  abhors  every  priesthood,  save  the 
critical  and  scientific  sacerdotalism.  To  that,  it  bows 
down  in  mute  and  reverential  awe.  Though  it  may 
honestly  believe  itself  to  be  the  natural  outcome  of 
Christianity,  it  must  be  evident  to  itself,  when  it  con- 
siders the  matter,  that  it  has  lost  its  connection  with 
that  root.  It  no  longer  abides  in  Christ,  nor  does  it 
desire  to  do  so. 

No  doubt  some  existing  religions  are  older  than 
Christianity.  That  of  Confucius  is  older  by  five  cen- 
turies. The  Jews,  in  their  synagogues,  can  go  back 
for  their  Passover  to  a  law  delivered  to  them  at 
least  thirteen  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Jesus.  The 
sacred  books  of  the  Brahmins  are  perhaps  oUler  still. 
But  the  question  is  not  of  duration,  but  of  progress. 
These  three  have  long  since  ceased  to  make  any  prog- 
ress. They  live  by  their  past.  But  Christianity  is  as 
young  as  ever.     It  is  in  a  constant  process  of  develop- 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  165 

ment.  It  came  out  of  Judaism  ;  it  then  developed  out 
of  Jewish  Christianity  into  the  universalism  of  Paul; 
and,  lastly,  out  of  Romanism  into  Protestantism.  In 
the  early  centuries  came  from  its  roots  such  shoots 
as  the  great  monastic  orders,  who  did  so  much  to 
civilize  Europe.  From  it,  in  later  days,  have  come 
Puritanism,  Qiiakerism,  Wesleyism,  Unitarianism, 
Universalism,  Swedenborgianism.  Foolish  people  are 
afraid  of  these  divisions,  and  think  them  a  sign  of 
decay.  But  in  truth  they  are  tokens  of  perennial 
growth.  As  the  age  advances,  Christianity  comes  to 
meet  it,  in  some  new  form,  putting  the  new  wine  into 
new  bottles. 

Jesus  foretold  that  a  Christianity  should  come  dif- 
ferent from  any  he  had  been  able  to  teach.  He  said 
tliat  the  Spirit  of  truth  should  take  of  his  truth,  and 
teach  many  things  at  some  future  time  to  those  who 
were  not  able  to  bear  them  then.  The  Divine  Spirit 
of  truth  has,  during  eighteen  centuries,  been  teaching 
to  the  church  a  deeper  and  a  nobler  Christianity  than 
it  before  knew.  A  great  deal  of  Judaism  and  of 
Paganism  adhered  to  the  early  church.  Much  of 
it  has  been  outgrown :  some  of  it  remains.  But  the 
Christian  church  has,  in  its  moral  nature,  a  vis  medi- 
catrix^  by  which  it  can  cure  its  own  diseases.  It  has 
a  power  of  growth,  by  which  it  can  lift  itself  above 
itself,  and  evolve  a  higher  life  from  year  to  year. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  this  process  is  approaching 
its  end.     Christianity  is  as  fresh  and  young  as  on  the 


l66  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

day  of  its  creation.  It  is  not  likely  to  be  superseded, 
or  to  be  j^^issed  b}^ 

Thus,  in  all  the  dimensions  of  space,  we  find  in 
Christianity  something  in  advance  of  theism.  It  is 
deeper  in  its  life,  higher  in  its  aspiration,  broader  in 
its  sweep,  more  far-reaching  in  its  perpetual  advance. 

In  one  magnificent  sentence,  the  apostle  Paul  has 
summed  up  all  our  argument.  He  tells  the  Ephe- 
siuns  that  his  prayer  for  them  is,  "  That  Christ 
ma}^  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith  ;  that  ye,  being 
rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  com- 
prehend with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth,  and 
length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love 
of  Christ,  which  passcth  knowledge,  that  ye  might 
be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God."  In  this  lan- 
guage, borrowed  from  the  dimensions  of  space,  he 
already  announces  the  imcomprehensible  depth,  ex- 
haustless  vitalit}^,  unlimited  power  of  development 
and  expansion,  and  vast  inclusiveness  of  the  Christian 
principle  of  love  to  Christ.  Love  to  Christ  is  the 
method  of  progress,  the  law  of  freedom,  the  way  to 
knowledge,  and  the  unchecked  impulse  to  God. 

At  present,  we  do  not  see  that  Free  Religion  can 
offer  us  any  motive,  insight,  purity,  or  humanity,  which 
Christianity  does  not  contain  in  a  much  fuller  degree. 
All  its  best  ideas  and  noblest  spirit  it  has  received 
from  this  great  mother.  The  parts  of  Christianity 
which  lie  outside  of  its  experience,  it  rejects  as  weak 
and  false :  tlie  parts  which  suit  it,  it  reproduces  as  its 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  167 

own.  Some  simple  Christians,  who  have  all  their 
lives  been  taught  these  same  truths  out  of  the  Bible, 
receive  them  as  novelties  when  offered  under  the  name 
of  Free  Religion.  They  are  like  the  philosopher  in 
Lowell's  poem,  who  gratefully  received  as  a  present 
the  fruit  stolen  from  his  own  garden. 

"  When  they  send  him  a  dishful,  and  ask  him  to  try  'em, 
He  never  suspects  how  the  sly  rogues  came  by  'em ; 
He  wonders  why  'tis  there  are  none  such  his  trees  on, 
And  thinks  them  the  best  he  has  tasted  this  season." 

But  we  see  no  reason  for  fearing  that  Christianity 
is  to  be  outgrown  or  passed  by.  It  comes  out  of  the 
fore-ordination  of  God  in  the  earliest  past:  it  reaches 
forward  into  the  remotest  future.  It  sweeps  together, 
in  its  large  embrace,  all  races,  characters.  Intellects, 
conditions.  Beings  in  heaven,  and  on  earth,  and 
under  the  earth,  bow  before  the  great  name  of 
Christ,  and  confess  him  to  be  Lord,  to  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father.  It  sinks  into  the  deepest  depth 
of  human  experience,  and  gives  the  practical  solu- 
tion of  the  problems  of  human  destiny.  It  rises  on 
the  wings  of  humility,  fidelity,  and  love,  to  the  high- 
est heaven,  to  the  living  throne  of  God,  around  which 
collect 

"  The  spirits  and  intelligences  fair, 

And  angels  waiting  by  the  Almighty's  chair." 

Such  are  the  simplicities  and  infinities  of  the  gospel ; 
simple  as  infancy,  infinite  as  the  universe  of  God. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Some  Objections  to  Christianity  Considered. 

TN  all  the  centuries,  since  Christianity  commenced 
its  great  career,  it  has  advanced  in  the  face  of 
opposition,  and  this  opposition  has  often  come  from 
the  highest  intelligence  of  the  age.  No  recent  attacks 
on  the  Gospels  can  be  compared,  in  respect  to  their 
power  of  insight,  subtlety  of  logic,  and  weight  of 
reason,  with  those  which  proceeded  from  philoso- 
phers like  Cclsus  in  the  second  century,  or  Porphyry 
in  the  third.  At  one  time,  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  best  intelligence  of  the  world  seemed 
banded  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Tindal  anil  Bolingbroke  in  England  ;  Voltaire,  Hel 
vetius,  and  Diderot,  in  France ;  Lessing  and  Base- 
dow, in  Germany,  —  all  contributed  to  a  work  which 
many  feared  was  to  extinguish  Christianity  for  ever. 
Such  assaults  have,  however,  invariably  resulted  in 
a  new  development  of  Christian  life  and  thought. 
The  present  attempt  of  many  intelligent  persons  to 
furnish  an  improvement  on  Christianity,  under  the 
name    of    "Free    Religion,"    will,    no    doubt,    share 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 69 

the  fate  of  previous  movements  in  that  direction. 
Christianity  is  not  a  theory  which  may  be  destroyed 
by  criticism  or  new  investigations.  It  is  a  stream  of 
Hfe  pouring  forth  continually  from  its  deep  fountain, 
and  flowing  on  through  heat  and  cold,  sometimes  in  a 
fuller  or  shallower  current,  but  flowing  on  always, 
"  Volvitur  et  volvetur,  in  omne  volubilis  aevum." 

One  objection  to  Christianity  is,  that  Jesus  accepted 
the  offlce  of  the  Jewish  Christ,  or  Messiah. 

This  criticism,  urged  against  Jesus  by  many  of  the 
Radical  writers,  is  thus  condensed  by  Mr.  Abbot  in  his 
"  Fifty  Affirmations  :  " 

RELATION   OF    JUDAISM   TO   CHRISTIANITY. 

ID.  The  idea  of  a  coming  "kingdom  of  heaven"  arose 
naturally  in  the  Hebrew  mind  after  the  decay  of  tlie  Davidic 
monarchy,  and  ripened  under  foreign  oppression  into  a  pas- 
sionate longing  and  expectation. 

11.  The  "kingdom  of  heaven"  was  to  be  a  world-wide 
empire  on  this  earth,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  to  be  es- 
tablished on  the  ruins  of  the  great  empires  of  antiquity  by  the 
miraculous  intervention  of  Jehovah. 

12.  The  Messiah  or  Christ  was  to  reign  over  the  "kingdom 
of  heaven  "  as  the  visible  deputy  of  Jehovah,  who  was  con- 
sidered the  true  sovereign  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  He  ^vas  to 
be  a  Priest-King,  —  the  supreme  pontiff  or  high-priest  of  the 
Hebrew  church,  and  absolute  monarch  of  the  Hebrew  state. 

13.  The  "  apocalyptic  hterature  "  of  the  Jews  exhibits  the 
gradual  formation  and  growth  of  the  idea  of  the  Messianic 
"  kingdom  of  heaven." 

14.  All  the  leading  features  of  the  gospel  doctrine  con- 
cerning the  "kingdom  of  heaven,"  the  "end  of  the  world, 
the  "great  day  of  judgment,"  the  "coming  of  tlie  Clirist  in 


170  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  clouds  of  heaven,"  the  "  resurrection  of  the  dead,"  the 
"  condemnation  of  the  wicked  and  the  exaltation  of  the 
righteous,"  the  "passing  away  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth," 
and  the  appearance  of  a  "  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,"  were 
definitely  formed  and  firmly  fixed  in  the  Hebrew  mind,  in  the 
century  before  Jesus  was  born. 

15.  John  the  Baptist  came  preaching  that  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  But  he  declared  himself  merely  the  fore- 
runner of  the  Messiah. 

16.  Jesus  also  came  preaching  that  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand,"  and  announced  himself  as  Messiah  or  Christ. 

17.  Jesus  emphasized  the  spiritual  aspect  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom;  but,  although  he  expected  his  throne  to  be  estab- 
lished by  the  miraculous  intervention  of  God,  and  therefore 
refused  to  employ  human  means  in  establishing  it,  he  never- 
theless exi^ected  to  discharge  the  poHtical  functions  of  his 
office  as  King  and  Judge,  when  the  fulness  of  time  should 
arrive. 

18.  As  a  preacher  of  purely  spiritual  truth,  Jesus  probably 
stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  great  religious  teachers  of  the 
past. 

19.  As  claimant  of  the  Messianic  crown,  and  founder  of 
Christianity  as  a  distinct  historical  religion,  Jesus  shared  the 
spirit  of  an  unenlightened  age,  and  stands  on  the  same  level 
with  Gautama  or  Mohammed. 

20.  In  the  belief  of  his  disciples,  the  death,  resurrection, 
and  ascension  of  Jesus  would  not  prevent  the  establishment 
of  the  "  kingdom  of  heaven."  His  throne  was  conceived  to 
be  already  established  in  the  heavens  ;  and  the  early  church 
impatiently  awaited  its  establishment  on  earth  at  the  "second 
coming  of  the  Christ." 

21.  Christianity  thus  appears  as  simply  the  complete  devel- 
opment of  Judaism,  —  the  highest  possible  fulfilment  of  the 
Messianic  dreams  based  on  the  Hebrew  conception  of  a 
"  chosen  people." 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  171 

The  charge  made  against  Jesus,  in  these  paragraphs, 
is,  that  he  made  a  Jewish  view  of  the  Messiah  his 
own,  and  so  accepted  an  error.  But  suppose  the  Jew- 
ish idea  of  the  Messiah  was,  in  its  essence  true,  — 
would  it  be  error  then  in  Jesus  to  accept  it? 

Mr.  Abbot  and  his  sympathizers  assume,  without 
proving  it,  in  a  very  unscientific  way  for  the  founders 
of  a  "  scientific  theology,"  that  whatever  the  Jews 
believed  must  be  erroneous.  But  is  not  the  Jew  a 
man?  Is  not  Judaism,  according  to  their  view,  a 
development  of  human  nature?  Has  not  a  Jew  eyes, 
hands,  organs,  dimensions,  like  other  men?  If  you 
prick  him,  will  he  not  bleed?  How  then  does  it 
necessarily  follow  that  because  a  Jew  believed  in  the 
"  kingdom  of  heaven "  as  something  to  come  upon 
earth,  it  must  therefore  be  an  error,  and  Jesus  also 
in  error  in  accepting  it? 

In  the  "  loth  affirmation"  (as  quoted  above),  Mr. 
Abbot  tells  us  that  the  idea  of  the  "•'kingdom  of 
heaven'  arose  naturally  in  the  Hebrew  mind  after 
the  decay  of  the  Davidic  monarchy."  But  Mr.  Ab- 
bot's conception  of  true  religion  is,  that  it  "  arises 
naturally "  in  the  human  soul,  and  is  not  sent  su- 
pcrnaturally.  If,  then,  this  idea  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  "  arose  naturally,"  why  is  it  to  be  assumed 
to  be  false,  before  investigation? 

Every  great  and  commanding  idea,  essentially  true, 
is  apt  to  gather  around  it  secondary  notions  of  an 
erroneous    and    mvthical    character.       All    births    of 


172  STEPS    OF    BET,IEF. 

time  are  subject  to  this  law.  But  the  real  questions 
to  ask  in  this  case  are,  "  What  is  the  essential  mean- 
ing in  the  Messianic  idea?"  and,  "Is  this  essential 
meaning  true  or  false?" 

The  "  kingdom  of  heaven  "  means,  simply,  the  reign 
of  God  on  earth.  Is  this  expectation  false?  On  the 
contrary,  is  not  the  whole  hope  of  humanity  contained 
in  the  view  that  a  time  is  to  come  in  which  God's  will 
shall  be  done  on  earth,  perfectly  and  entirely?  The 
triumph  of  right  over  wrong,  of  good  over  evil,  of 
truth  over  error,  —  this  is  the  undying  human  hope. 
And  this  also  is  the  substance  of  the  Messianic  idea. 

The  original  conception  of  the  Messiah  and  of  his 
time,  as  it  is  found  in  the  prophets,  is,  that  an  age  shall 
arrive  when  God's  laws  shall  be  universally  obeyed. 
The  Messiah  is  to  be  both  temporal  and  spiritual  Ruler 
of  this  kingdom  under  God,  —  temporal,  because  his 
kingdom  is  to  be  a  visible  community,  existing  in 
time,  and  localized  on  earth  ;  spiritual,  because  it  is 
to  be  governed,  not  by  force,  but  by  truth  and  good- 
ness. He  is  to  be  Priest  and  King  (as  Mr.  Abbot 
correctly  says)  :  Priest,  by  his  inward  religious  in- 
fluence on  the  individual ;  King,  by  his  outward  civil- 
izing influence  on  society.  The  chief  mai'ks  of  the 
Messiah's  reign,  according  to  the  prophets,  arc  these  :  — 

1.  The  Messiah  is  to  rule,  not  by  force,  but  by  the 
power  of  truth  and  goodness.  This  appears  from 
such  passages  as  these  :  "  He  shall  smite  the  earth 
with  the  rod  of  his   moutli,  and  with   the   breath   of 


FROM   THEISM   TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 73 

his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked."  (Isaiah  xi :  4.) 
"  Righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle  of  his  loins,  and 
faithfulness  the  girdle  of  his  reins."  (Isaiah  xi.  5.) 
The  idea  of  force  is  secondary  and  subsequent. 

2.  In  the  new  kingdom,  instead  of  the  outward  law 
of  Judaism,  —  the  law  of  authority  which  governs 
external  actions,  —  thei'e  is  to  be  a  law  of  love,  mak- 
ing men  do  right  not  from  the  compulsion  of  con- 
science, but  from  simple  joy  in  doing  right.  This 
is  expressed  in  the  passage  in  Jeremiah  (xxxi.  31), 
"  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  .  .  . 
will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
their  hearts  ;  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be 
my  people.  And  they  shall  teach  no  more  every  man 
his  neighbor,  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying.  Know 
the  Lord :  for  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least 
of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord . 
for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  will  remember 
their  sin  no  more."  This  passage  is  quoted  in  the 
New  Testament  (Heb.  viii.  S  ;  x.  16),  and  applied  to 
Christianity. 

3.  The  dominion  of  the  Messiah  is  not  to  be  con- 
fined to  the  Jews,  but  is  to  extend  over  all  otlicr 
nations.  Numerous  passages  express  this  idea ;  for 
example,  the  passage  in  Isaiah  ii.  2-4,  in  which  it  is 
not  only  said  that  "  all  nations "  shall  flow  into  the 
house  of  Jehovah,  but  that  the  law  shall  "  go  forth 
from  Zion,"  and  that  Jehovah  shall  become  the  Rulei 


174  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

of  tlic  nations.  In  other  places  it  is  said  that  Jehovah 
shall  "  sprinkle  many  nations"  (or  purify  them)  ;  that 
"  the  veil  which  is  over  all  nations  shall  be  dcstroj^ed  ;  " 
that  he  shall  "  gather  all  nations  and  tongues  to  see 
his  glory,"  &c. 

4,  In  the  days  of  this  great  kingdom  of  God,  the 
woes,  wrongs,  and  sins  of  the  world  are  to  cease. 
Notably,  war  is  to  cease,  and  a  universal  reconciliation 
take  place.  The  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  the 
cow  and  the  bear  feed  together.  The  earth  shall  be 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah.  The  desert  shall 
blossom  as  a  rose.  There  shall,  in  sum,  be  a  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth. 

In  the  apocalj-ptic  literature,  these  elements  of  the 
Messianic  age  —  viz.,  a  moral  power,  extending  over  all 
nations,  substituting  inward  love  for  outward  conform- 
ity, and  so  producing  outwardly  complete  unity  in  all 
spheres  —  were  carried  much  further.  At  the  same  time 
these  noble  ideas  became  mixed  with  lower  concep- 
tions. In  the  Sibylline  writings,  the  book  of  Henoch, 
the  fourth  book  of  Esdras,  the  book  of  Jubilees, 
and  the  Targums,  we  find  what  a  clear  and  strong 
conception  of  the  Messiah  and  his  kingdom  took  form 
in  the  Jewish  mind  as  early  as  B.  c.  160.  God,  say 
the  Sibylline  oracles,  shall  send  a  king  from  the  sun. 
when  the  need  of  man  is  soi'cst,  and  wars  are  fiercest, 
and  he  siall  cause  wars  to  cease,  and  cause  all 
men  to  /ecognize  the  immortal  God.  The  book  of 
Henoch  calls  the  Messiah  always  "  the  Son  of  man, ' 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 75 

and  "  the  elect  One,"  who  shall  open  "  a  fountain  of 
righteousness,"  and  "  fountains  of  wisdom,"  where  all 
shall  come  and  drink.  Esdras  describes  the  Messiah 
as  a  man  rising  from  the  mysterious  sea,  and  flying  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  coming  down  and  calling 
together  "  a  peaceable  multitude."  At  last,  he  says, 
"  Christ  shall  die,  and  all  that  have  breath,"  and  "  the 
earth  return  to  its  old  silence."  Then  all  souls  shall 
come  to  judgment,  truth  shall  stand,  and  faith  bud, 
time  end,  and  eternity  begin. 

In  the  midst  of  these  ideas,  Jesus  was  born  and 
brought  up.  It  was,  no  doubt,  in  regard  to  these 
opinions,  that  he  talked  to  the  wise  men  on  that  mem- 
orable occasion,  when,  absorbed  in  the  longing  for 
truth,  he  forgot  father,  mother,  and  home.  He  pene- 
trated to  the  depth  of  this  Messianic  hope,  until  at 
last  it  became  clear  to  him  that  if  a  man  could  be 
found,  who  should  be  both  priest  and  king  in  the  high- 
est sense,  he  would  be  the  Messiah  of  God .  If  he 
could  manifest  the  true  God  so  fully  that  men  should 
see  him  as  their  father,  and  become  his  children, — 
that  would  be  the  Priesthood.  If  he  could  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  truth  with  such  commanding  authority 
that  all  well-disposed  men,  loving  truth,  should  receive 
it  and  obey  it,  then  he  would  be  King.  This  work 
Jesus  assumed  and  accomplished ;  he  emancipated 
Judaism  from  its  forms,  and  it  became,  in  the  hands 
of  nis  apostles,  a  universal  religion.  That  this  was 
his  iii*°ntion  appears  from  many  passages,  for  example 


176  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

when  the  request  of  the  Greeks  to  see  him  led  hhn  to 
the  thouglit  that  if  he  died,  he  should  draw  all  men 
unto  him.  He  was  to  be  King,  as  he  tells  Pilate,  by 
hearing  witness  to  the  truth.  In  his  sermon  on  the 
mount  he  fulfils  the  prophecy  of  changing  the  old 
covenant  into  a  new  one,  by  writing  the  law  in  the 
heart. 

Mr.  Abbot,  and  his  associates,  say  that  in  claiming 
the  Messianic  crown  Jesus  "  shared  the  spirit  of  an  un- 
enlightened age."  Is  it  sharing  the  spirit  of  an  unen- 
lightened age,  to  take  men  where  they  are,  and  lead 
them  on  to  the  highest,  deepest,  and  broadest  truth. 
If  Jesus  had  not  only  met  the  Jews  on  their  own 
ground,  but  remained  with  them  there,  there  would 
be  some  foundation  for  the  charge.  But  it  was  because 
Jesus  would  not  accept  the  low  Jewish  belief  about 
the  Messiah,  but  insisted  on  giving  them  that  higlier 
Jewish  conception  which  was  the  step  out  of  Judaism 
into  a  universal  religion,  that  he  died.  He  died  a 
martyr  to  his  spiritual  conception  of  the  work  of  the 
Messiah.  His  life  was  a  ransom  paid  to  free  his 
n:-.tion  from  the  slavery  of  the  letter,  and  to  restore 
them  to  the  freedom  of  the  spirit,  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  God. 

Mr.  Abbot  also  informs  us  that  Jesus  "  shared  the 
spirit  of  an  unenlightened  age,"  by  founding  Christian- 
ity as  a  distinct  historic  religion.  There  may  be  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  the  best  way  of  teaching 
religious  truth.     Some  may  believe  the  best  way  to  sow 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 77 

seed  to  be  to  scatter  it  at  random  on  the  grass,  rocks, 
road,  by  the  wayside,  among  thorns,  and  where  there 
is  no  depth  of  soiL  Jesus  thought  otherwise.  He 
considered  tliat  it  was  necessary  to  plant  it  in  good, 
well-prepared  ground,  in  oixler  that  it  should  bring 
forth  thirty,  fifty,  and  a  hundred  fold.  He  did  not 
accept  the  "wayside"  plan  of  sowing  seed.*  He 
planted  his  truth  in  the  prepai"ed  soil  of  Judaism. 
Though  unacquainted  with  modern  science,  he  held  to 
the  law  of  evolution.  He  came  not  to  destroy  the 
law,  but  to  fulfil  it,  by  carrying  it  to  its  ultimate  results, 
and  causing  it  to  be  transfigured  in  a  higher  form. 
This,  according  to  Mr.  Abbot,  was  "an  unenlightened 
method,"  nevertheless  it  resulted  in  making  Chris- 
tianity the  religion  of  civilized  man. 

Mr.  Abbot  supposes  that  he  has  dealt  a  fatal  blow 
at  Christianity  in  calling  it  "  simply  the  complete  de- 
velopment of  Judaism."  But  suppose  that  the  theory 
should  be  finally  accepted  which  regards  man  as  sim- 
ply the  highest  development  of  the  monkey,  would 
that  make  humanity  any  less  human  than  it  is  now.^"  If 
the  universal  religion  is  grown  out  of  previous  religions, 
is  it  any  less  universal  because  of  that.^  If  the  "  Ales- 
sianic  dreams "  are  fulfilled  in  the  manifestation  of  a 


*  So!Tie  of  his  followers,  however,  seemed  to  think  he  did. 
There  is  a  little  hymn  which  exhorts  us  to  "Fling,  fling  the 
wayside  seed,"  as  though  the  object  of  the  parable  were  to 
recommend  sowing  at  randotn. 


178  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

King  of  truth  and  a  Priest  of  love,  is  he  an}^  the  less 
the  world's  King  and  the  world's  Priest  on  that  ac- 
count ?  If  the  Hebrew  concejDtion  of  "  a  chosen  peo- 
ple "  is  at  last  found  to  signify  that  they  are  a  people 
chosen  to  be  the  soil  from  which  grows  up  the  religion 
of  human  nature,  shall  the  religion  of  human  nature 
be  considered  as  damaged  by  that  fact? 

It  is  also  objected  by  our  radical  friends,  that  if  we 
call  Jesus  "Lord  and  IMastcr,"  tliis  is  a  creed,  and  that 
it  limits  our  freedom  and  checks  our  progress.  All,  how- 
ever, depends  on  what  wc  mean  by  "  Master."  There 
are  two  kinds  of  masters.  The  one  kind  enslaves  us :  the 
other  sets  us  free.  One  master  goes  before  the  flock, 
and  the  sheep  follow  him  where  they  wish  to  go  to 
find  pasture.  Another  goes  behind  the  flock,  and 
drives  the  sheep  where  they  do  not  wish  to  go.  The 
good  master  inspires  us  :  the  poor  master  merely  orders 
us.  The  one  acts  upon  us  by  reason  and  love ;  the 
other  by  will,  force,  and  fear.  One  is  a  friend,  the  other 
a  despot.  Tlie  one  makes  us  his  disciples,  the  other 
his  slaves.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  master  of  the 
good  kind  ;  some  one  who  shall  feed  our  soul,  inspire 
our  mind,  animate  our  life. 

The  mastership  of  Jesus  is  not  that  of  constraint  or 
con  pulsion.  He  never  meant  it  to  be  so.  His  disciples 
have  often  made  it  so,  — calling  down  fire  from  heaven 
to  destroy  those  who,  they  believe,  are  opposed  to  their 
Master.  But  Jesus  never  sought  to  compel  men  to  be 
his  disciples.     "All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 79 

come  to  mc,"  he  says.  He  did  not  care  to  hear  them 
say,  "  Lord  !  Lord  !  "  He  did  not  wish  to  arrest  their 
faith  and  fix  it  on  his  own  person  ;  he  wished  it  to  go 
through  him  to  God.  He  said,  "  He  that  believeth  on 
me,  beHevetli  not  on  me,  but  on  him  that  sent  me  ;  and 
he  that  seeth  me,  seeth  him  that  sent  me."  He  would 
not  judge  those  who  disbelieved  him  :  he  left  it  for  the 
trur  to  judge  them.  "  The  good  shepher^d,"  he  says, 
"goes  before  his  sheep,  and  they  follow  him,  for  they 
know  his  voice."  When  his  hearer's  could  not  under- 
stand him,  he  explained  ;  when  they  objected,  he  gave 
a  reason.  All  the  long  series  of  exquisite  illustrations, 
which  we  call  parables,  were  told  to  make  his  mean- 
ing clear  when  they  could  understand  him  ;  or  to  be 
like  little  boxes,  to  keep  it  in  their  memory  till  they 
were  able  to  understand  it.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore, 
a  proof  of  extreme  narrowness  and  prejudice  that  some 
of  the  modern  teachers  of  Free  Religion  should  base  on 
this  fact,  that  Jesus  taught  in  stories,  the  charge  that 
he  had  a  secret  doctrine  for  his  disciples  differing  from 
the  public  doctrine  which  he  communicated  to  the 
people.  It  was  because  they  had  hardened  their  hearts 
so  as  not  to  be  able  to  take  in  his  plain  teaching  of  the 
spiritual  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  as 
given  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  that  he  adopted  the 
plan  of  teaching  by  parables.* 

*  If  Jesus  taught  an  esoteric  doctrine  to  his  disciples  which 
he  did  not  teacli  to  the  common  people,  what  was  it?  What 
was  the  distinction  between  the  public  and  private  doctrine 


l8o  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

In  whatever  sense  Jesus  claimed  to  be  Lord  and 
Master,  it  was  certainly  not  as  demanding  any  blind 
assent  to  his  teaching.  It  was  not  because  he  wished 
to  hear  the  word  "  Lord"  applied  to  him.  It  was  not 
that  he  would  accept  any  man  the  sooner  as  a  real 
disciple,  because  he  used  the  phrase  "  Master,"  or 
would  reject  him  because  he  did  not  use  it.  One 
text  is  enough  to  prove  this.  "  Not  every  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord !  Lord !  shall  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  docth  the  will  of 
my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  He  wishes  our  minds 
to  be  active,  not  passive,  in  listening  to  him. 

There  are  Christian  teachers,  I  know,  who  claim  a 
difterent  authority  for  Jesus  than  that  reverence  which 
accumulates  around  a  teacher  whose  words  have  fed, 
with  light  and  life,  the  intellect  of  nations  and  the 
heart  of  mankind.  They  wish  that,  instead  of  looking 
up  to  him  with  expectation,  we  should  bow  down  be- 
fore him  with  awe,  and  blindly  accept  his  words.     I 


of  Jesus  ?  Has  any  one  of  the  thousand  critics  of  the  Gospels 
pointed  out  such  a  distinction?  If  he  distrusted  the  common 
people,  it  was  curious  that  they  heard  him  gladly.  The  only 
fact  adduced  in  support  of  this  statement  is,  that  Jesus  taught 
in  parables;  that  is,  in  allegories  and  stories.  But  the  mean- 
ing of  tiiese  is  sufficiently  transparent  to  those  who  are  not 
blinded  by  prejudice.  So  far  from  wishing  to  conceal  his 
meaning  in  parables,  Jesus  was  surprised  to  find  that  his  dis- 
ciples needed  any  explanation  of  them.  What  are  the  myste- 
ries in  the  parables  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  Good  Samari- 
tan, the  Talents? 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  ibl 

shall  show  that  this  kind  of  authority  he  never  as- 
serted. He  never  asked  for  assent,  but  always  sought 
to  produce  conviction. 

It  is  true  that  Jesus  continually  declared  that  he  was 
tne  door,  the  way,  the  truth,  the  life.  He  asked 
men  to  come  to  him,  to  believe  in  him,  to  become  one 
with  him.  And  this  was  not  only  his  right,  but  his 
duty,  on  the  supposition  that  he  knew  that  he  saw 
plainly  God's  everlasting  truth.  It  was  God's  truth 
.which  he  thus  called  them  to  see,  in  calling  them  to 
himself.  It  was  because  God's  truth  was  incarnate  in 
his  life,  that  he  said  that  he  was  the  life.  If  this  was 
a  mistake  ;  if  his  truth  was  not  the  absolute,  eternal 
truth  of  God,  —  then  he  was  wrong  in  this  course. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  did  not  merely  speculate 
and  conjecture  and  reason,  like  Socrates,  but  saw  and 
knew  the  truth,  then  it  was  his  duty  and  his  right  to 
utter  these  great  invitations. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  authority,  —  first,  the  au- 
thority of  knowledge ;  second,  of  office  ;  third,  of 
character  or  personality.  The  authority  of  knowledge 
is  that  inexplicable  power  of  utterance  which  belongs 
to  one  who  really  knows  what  he  is  speaking  of.  It 
gives  clearness  to  his  statements ;  makes  them  lumi- 
nous, exhaustive,  consistent ;  clothes  them  with  the 
picturesque  garb  of  life ;  and  fills  them  with  weight 
and  substance.  This  was  the  authority  which  the 
people  recognized  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount ; 
for,  at  that  time,  Jesus  was  not  known,  and  so  had 


l82 


STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 


no  personal  authority;  had  not  chiimcd  to  be  the 
Messiah,  and  so  had  no  oflicial  authority. 

The  authority  of  office,  we  all  understand.  This 
only  belonged  to  Jesus  after  he  was  recognized  as 
the  Christ,  and  accepted  as  such,  and  only  had  weight 
with  those  who  thus  accepted  him. 

But  personal  authority  is  that  influence  which  grad- 
ually accumulates  around  one,  whose  wisdom,  good- 
ness, character,  have  created  reverence.  It  is  one  of 
the  great  educating  influences  in  the  world.  When  I 
go  to  Plato,  Dante,  Shakspeare,  I  go  with  expectation 
and  fLUth.  I  feel  sure  that  what  they  say,  though  I 
cannot  at  once  understand  it,  has  meaning  and  value. 
That  which,  coming  from  an  unknown  source,  I  should 
at  once  reject,  coming  from  these  mighty  masters,  I 
ponder  and  endeavor  to  penetrate.  So,  ai  last,  I 
come  to  see  what  I  never  saw  before ;  to  feel  my 
soul  enlarged,  deepened,  and  elevated.  Thus  personal 
authority  exercises  over  us  an  educating  influence. 

But  because  we  attriluite  either  of  these  varieties  of 
authorit}^  to  a  master,  it  docs  not  follow  that  we  are  to 
receive  his  dicta  blindly.  A  blind  and  passive  re- 
ception of  truth,  is  equivalent  to  not  receiving  it  at  all. 
The  legitimate  influence  of  authority  is  to  inspire  rev- 
erent, patient,  expectant  thought.  It  ojDens  the  mind 
to  truth,  and  prepares  it  to  receive  it.  The  illegitimate 
influence  of  authority  is  to  cause  us  to  assent  to  the 
letter,  to  receive  passively  the  form,  to  acquiesce  in 
the  conclusion,  without  really  seeing  or  knowing  the 
truth. 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 83 

Now  that  Jesus  always  endeavored  to  produce  con- 
viction, and  never  cared  for  a  mere  external  assent, 
appears  from  such  facts  as  these  :  — 

(a)  His  habit  of  arguing  by  means  of  analogies 
taken  from  common  life  and  the  laws  of  nature. 

When  he  was  asked  why  he  mingled  so  familiarly 
with  publicans  and  sinners,  and  objections  were  made 
to  him  on  that  account,  on  the  principle  noscititr  a 
socii's^  —  he  did  not  reply  merely  by  saying,  "I  am  the 
Son  of  God,  and  have  official  authority  to  do  as  I 
please."  No  ;  but  he  used  the  familiar  analogy  of  the 
physician.  "You  might  as  well"  —  I  suppose  him  to 
say  —  "  find  fault  with  a  physician  for  going  among 
sick  people,  and  accuse  him  of  having  a  very  morbid 
taste,  in  so  doing.  Why  does  he  always  call  on  sick 
people,  never  on  well  people  ?  Aly  sick  people  are 
these  sinners." 

When  the  authority  of  John  the  Baptist  and  of  the 
Pharisees  was  quoted  against  him,  and  it  was  intimated 
that  it  might  be  well  for  him  to  conform  to  the  custom 
of  fiisting,  and  not  run  counter  to  public  prejudice  by 
omitting  this  religious  observance,  he  again  replied, 
not  by  saying,  "  I  have  as  good  a  right  as  John  the 
Baptist  to  say  what  my  disciples  shall  do."  Instead 
of  this,  he  gave  the  rationale  of  fasting.  It  was 
an  expression  of  grief,  of  a  sense  of  emptiness  and 
want.  "  My  disciples  do  not  experience  this  need 
while  I  am  with  them.  You  do  not  ask  the  guests  at 
a  marriage  to  fast,  and  complain  of  them  that  they. 


184  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

look  glad  and  not  sad.  That  which  is  suitable  at  one 
time  is  not  suitable  at  another." 

In  teaching  the  providence  of  God,  he  does  not 
rest  his  argument  on  his  own  inspiration,  but  on  the 
analogies  of  nature.  "  If  God  clothe  the  grass  of 
the  field,  shall  he  not  much  more  clothe  you  ?  " 

In  showing  that  God  will  always  answer  the  prayer 
for  spiritual  blessings,  he  relies  on  the  analogies  of 
human  life.  "  What  man  who  is  a  fother  would  not 
give  bread  to  a  hungry  child?"  He  appeals  to  no 
personal  or  official  authority,  but  to  the  pure  instincts 
of  human  nature,  in  support  of  his  teaching. 

((5)  His  frequent  practice  of  leading  on  the  mind 
of  his  hearers  by  questions,  until  he  made  them  see 
clearly  what  he  wished  them  to  believe. 

Thus  on  the  memorable  occasion  which  resulted  in 
the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan,  we  are  told  that  a 
teacher  of  the  law  came  to  test  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus.  He  probably  had  a  plan  laid  to  make  the 
Master  contradict  himself.  The  "  lawyer"  first  asked 
the  apparently  innocent  question,  "What  shall  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life  ? "  Perhaps  he  expected  that  Jesus 
would  reply,  "  Believe  in  mc  and  become  my  disciple." 
Then  he  would  have  gone  on  and  asked,  "  Why  should 
I  believe  in  you.?  Are  you  the  Messiah .f* "  But  what- 
ever his  plan  may  have  been,  Jesus  turned  his  position 
by  simply  asking  him  what  he  himself,  as  one  skilled 
in  the  law,  would  give  as  the  answer  to  his  own  ques- 
fion.      And  when  he  replied,  "  Love  God,  and  love 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 85 

my  neighbor,"  "  Yes,"  said  the  Master  :  "  you  know 
it ;  now  do  it."  The  man  of  theology,  not  well  pleased 
that  his  difficulty  turned  out  to  be  no  difficulty  at 
all,  made  a  new  puzzle  about  the  extent  of  mean- 
ing involved  in  "  neighbor."  Then  Jesus  tells  the 
palpable,  which  has  been  the  instruction  of  all  time. 
At  its  close  the  lawyer  admitted  that  even  the  Samar- 
itan and  Jew  might  be  neighbors ;  though  he  could 
not  make  up  his  mind  to  say  the  word  "  Samaritan," 
and  preferred  to  phrase  it,  "  He  that  showed  mercy 
on  him." 

Thus,  at  another  time,  when  the  woman  came  to 
the  house  where  Jesus  was  dining  with  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  and  Simon  was  scandalized  at  the  Master's 
allowing  a  sinful  woman  to  touch  him,  — Jesus,  by  a 
stor}-,  showed  Simon  how  the  consciousness  of  sin 
might  create  a  power  of  affection,  deeper  than  could 
grow  up  in  the  heart  of  self-satisfied  virtue. 

When  fault  was  found  with  him  for  healing  on  the 
sabbath,  he  put  a  question  which  silenced,  if  it  did 
not  convince,  the  captious  formalist.  It  silenced  him, 
and  it  may  have  convinced  others.  "  You  pull  your 
ox  out  of  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath  :  may  not  I  pull  out 
a  man  ?  " 

Other  cases  of  this  kind  will  readily  occur  to  the 
reader,  in  which  Jesus,  by  means  of  questions,  either 
made  his  meaning  clear,  silenced  objection,  or  con- 
futed his  opponents  by  making  them  confute  them- 
selves. 


l86  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

(c)  His  evident  aversion  to  verbal  profession,  and 
too  easy  assent  to  his  claims. 

"  Good  Teacher,"  began  one.  "  Why  do  you  call 
me  good?"  he  replied;  "Is  any  finite,  human  good- 
ness worth  considering,  in  the  pi^esence  of  the  infi- 
nite goodness  ?  The  little  goodness  we  possess  is  not 
ours :  it  is  God's."  So,  at  least,  I  interpret  his 
words. 

"Why  do  you  call  me  Lord,  instead  of  doing  the 
things  I  teach?"  said  he,  at  another  time.  And  yet 
there  are  many  to-day  who  think  it  wrong  not  to  be 
continually  repeating  the  name  of  Christ,  —  at  the  end 
of  their  prayers,  and  in  all  their  sermons.  A  certain 
divine  found  fault  with  the  proclamation  for  thanks- 
giving of  the  great  war-governor  of  Massachusetts, 
because  "Christ"  was  not  verbally  mentioned  in  it. 
But  God  was  mentioned  repeatedly,  and  Christian 
duties  and  Christian  piety  were  mentioned.  Is  the 
name  of  Christ  to  be  regarded  as  a  charm,  or  magical 
formula,  more  valuable  than  his  truth  or  his  spirit? 
Jesus  did  not  think  so. 

In  the  days  of  Christ,  as  now,  there  was  a  class  of 
persons  who  believed  too  easily,  and  needed  to  be 
made  to  see  it.  They  were  ready  to  accept  every 
thing  he  said,  at  once,  and  praise  it  all.  This  sort 
of  ready  verbal  assent  was  by  no  means  satisfactory 
to  him. 

A  woman  once  interrupted  the  course  of  his  teaching 
by  uttering  a  hosannah  to  his  mother,  and  saying  what 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  iS'J 

a  ha^Dpy  woman  she  must  be  to  have  such  a  son.  He 
replied  that  he  rather  considered  those  happy  who 
listened  to  God's  word,  and  then  obeyed  it.  The 
Roman-Catholic  church  has  never  learned  that  lesson  ; 
but,  to  this  hour,  spends  more  time  in  chanting 
"  I3Iessed  Virgin  Mary ! "  than  in  hearing  the  truth 
of  Jesus  and  doing  it. 

On  another  occasion  Jesus  was  advising  his  hearers, 
when  they  gave  a  feast,  to  invite  poor  people  and  not 
rich  ones.  (This  passage  seems  to  have  been  very 
much  overlooked  by  modern  Christians,  who  invite  to 
their  parties  party-giving  people  ;  their  object  being  to 
get  into  society,  or  stay  in  it.)  Some  one  in  the  crowd 
probably  thought  the  subject  was  not  sufficiently  re- 
ligious, and  had  a  tendency  toward  "  mere  morality." 
So  he  called  out,  in  the  sonorous  accent  of  self-sat- 
isfied piety,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  !  "  Whereupon  Jesus  told  a  story, 
the  point  of  which  was  that  many  persons  w^ho  be- 
lieved that  they  wished  above  all  else  to  see  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  would  not  lilce  it  very  much  when  it 
came. 

In  like  manner,  he  said  to  Nicodemus,  "  I  am 
afraid  you  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  Nico- 
demus :  a  man  must  be  made  over  and  become  all 
new,  must  be  converted  and  be  like  a  little  child,  to 
see  the  real  kingdom  of  heaven.  Peter  saw  it  in  a 
transient  glimpse,  a  momentary  vision ;  but  I  am 
afraid  you  v,annot."     ?>Iicodcmus  came  to  expound  a 


iSS  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

theory  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  He  exphiined  how 
he  could  believe,  on  grounds  of  logic,  that  Jesus  was 
a  divinely  appointed  teachei",  because  he  worked  mir- 
acles. But  Jesus  did  not  desire  to  have  any  one 
believe  in  him  on  that  ground,  or  in  that  way.  What 
he  desired  was  that  they  should  sec  and  enter  into  tlie 
true  kingdom  of  God.  To  do  this,  it  was  necessary 
to  be  child-like,  pure  in  heart,  poor  in  spirit ;  in  short, 
to  become  new  creatures,  through  and  through,  by 
seeing  all  things  in   a  new  way. 

Popularity  did  not  deceive  him.  When  multitudes 
followed  him,  he  turned  and  said,  "  If  any  man  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross." 
W^hen  the  multitudes  were  shouting  hosannah,  tears 
came  into  his  eyes  at  the  sight  of  the  city  all  of  whose 
tendencies  were  toward  self-destruction. 

So  Jesus  taught.  He  argued  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, quoting  the  example  of  David  to  show  that 
the  sabbath  need  not  be  kept  as  strictly  as  they  be- 
lieved. He  quoted  the  example  of  Elisha  to  show 
that  he  had  a  right  to  go  to  those  outside  the  Jewish 
pale.  He  refused  to  be  umpire  in  matters  not  be- 
longing to  his  mission.  "  Who  made  me  a  divider 
over  you?"  said  he.  So  now,  when  we  say,  "  Master, 
speak  to  the  geologists  that  they  shall  not  set  aside  the 
Mosaic  account  of  tlie  creation  ; "  Jesus  miglit  reply. 
"  That  docs  not  concern  me  or  my  religion  at  all :  th:it 
belongs  to  science."  Sometimes  he  taught  by  silence, 
as  when  be  looked  down  and  wrote  on  the  ground,  n(;i 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 89 

wishing  to  make  it  too  hard  for  the  accusers,  by 
looking  at  them  while  they  went  out.  He  left  the 
bridge  standing,  for  the  flying  enemy  to  escape  by. 
To  the  captious  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  he  sometimes 
refused  to  speak  ;  but  to  the  poor  Samaritan  woman 
he  taught  the  highest  and  hohest  truths  of  the  gospeh 
He  did  not  behcve  that  she  was  too  ignorant  or  too  cor- 
rupt to  understand  the  great  doctrine  of  the  spirituaHty 
of  God.  To  any  open  soul,  he  would  teach  any  truth. 
Another  objection  of  the  critics  is,  that  Jesus  was 
not  original.  He  said  what  had  been  said  before.  By 
searching  through  all  old  religions  and  philosophies, 
it  has  been  found  that  Confucius  taught  something  like 
the  Golden  Rule  ;  that  in  the  Talmud  are  some  sayings 
like  those  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount ;  that  if  we  put 
together  what  Pythagoras  and  Seneca,  the  Vedas  and 
Zoroaster,  Plato  and  Socrates,  Antoninus  and  Epic- 
tetus  have  said,  we  shall  find  very  many  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  anticipated,  —  some  here,  some  there. 
Granted.  What  then?  Jesus  did  not  profess  to  have 
invented  truth,  I  suppose.  If,  when  you  have  gathered 
all  the  wisest  sayings  of  the  wisest  men,  you  find  that 
Jesus  said  the  same  things,  it  shows  that  his  teachings 
accord  with  human  nature  in  its  noblest  aspirations. 
But  if  it  all  had  been  taught  before,  how  happens  it 
that  it  took  such  hold  of  the  world  when  Jesus  said 
it.-*  If  it  were  an  old  story,  how  could  it  revolutionize 
human  history,  and  change  the  face  of  nations.-'  Why 
did  it  only  create  new  thought  in  the  minds  of  phi- 


ipO  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

losophers  when  uttered  by  Plato,  and  create  new  life 
in  the  hearts  of  mankind  when  coming  from  Jesus? 
That  is  the  question.  It  was  because  it  came  as  a 
specuhition  in  the  one  case,  but  as  a  reality  in  the 
other.  It  was  because  it  was  not  from  the  surface 
thought,  but  from  the  depth  of  the  soul.  The  origi- 
nality which  is  of  consequence,  does  not  consist  in  the 
novelty  of  what  is  said,  but  in  its  vitality  ;  and  that 
depends  on  the  depth  from  which  it  springs.  When 
Jesus  sjooke,  what  he  said  came  from  those  depths  in 
the  soul,  where  man  stands  face  to  face  with  God, 
with  nature,  with  universal  law,  with  the  awtul  reali- 
ties of  time  and  eternity.  It  was  no  mere  intellectual 
novelty  he  produced,  with  which  to  amuse  men's  in- 
tellects ;  but  immortal  truths,  to  live  and  work  for  all 
time.  So  he  taught,  as  one  having  authority,  and  not 
as  the  Scribes. 

If  it  be  objected  to  our  faith  in  Jesus,  that  the  criti- 
cisms of  the  present  time  have  made  his  history  un- 
certain, and  shaken  our  confidence  in  the  authenticity 
of  the  Gospels,  I  reply  that  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
history  of  Jesus  does  not  rest  on  critical  reasons,  nor 
can  it  be  shaken  by  critical  objections.  It  rests  on  the 
harmony  and  consent  of  the  various  accounts  of  this 
great  person,  from  which  evermore  emerges  that  sub- 
lime figure,  bearing  all  the  authentic  lineaments  of  real- 
ity. The  human  mind  has  the  power  of  seeing  what 
is  true  to  nature,  even  though  it  be  above  all  nature 
elsewhere  observed.     You  might  just  as  well  look  at 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  I9I 

the  sun  and  doubt  its  reality,  as  read  tlae  story  of  Jesus 
and  question  its  historic  truth.  All  critical  objec- 
tions dissolve  in  air,  before  that  divine  face  which 
looks  out  upon  us  from  these  simple  records,  through 
all  the  intervening  centuries.  It  is  the  face  of  one 
whom  we  have  learned  to  know  better  than  our 
neighbors  in  the  next  street,  better  than  the  brother 
who  sat  with  us  by  our  father's  fii'eside.  Notwith- 
standing the  narrowness  of 'his  nation,  the  ignorance 
of  his  biographers,  the  hardness  of  the  age,  the  low 
views  of  God  and  man  prevailing  around  him,  we 
hear  a  voice  which  speaks  with  the  astonishing  au- 
thority of  perfect  insight,  —  a  voice  which  creates  a 
new  era,  which  pours  light  on  time  and  eternity. 
Tt  is  a  voice  so  strong,  yet  so  tender ;  so  bold,  yet  so 
careful ;  so  unhesitating  in  its  absolute  assurance,  yet 
so  condescending  to  all  human  weakness,  ignorance, 
and  sin,  —  that  it  sinks  into  our  soul,  needing  no  other 
proof  of  its  reality  than  itself.  Some  things  prove 
themselves  to  be  true,  and  need  no  other  evidence. 
So  it  is  with  the  character  of  Jesus. 

And  might  we  not  expect,  from  the  nature  of  God, 
that  .he  would  give  us  such  a  revelation  of  his  truth 
and  love,  as  we  find  in  Jesus  Christ .''  "  What  man  is 
there  among  you,  being  a  father,  who,  when  his  son 
asks  for  bread,  will  he  give  him  a  stone.'"'  For  thou- 
sands of  yeai^s,  men's  hearts  have  been  feeling  after 
God,  asking  him  for  this  living  bread.  They  have 
been  looking  for  God  in  the  magnificence  of  the  rising 


192  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

sun  ;  in  the  solemnity  of  the  starry  night ;  in  the  in- 
scrutable beauty  of  air,  fire,  water ;  in  the  solitudes  of 
the  forests,  and  the  mysterious  and  inaccessible  moun- 
tains. Will  not  the  Father  come  to  tiiese  chikh'cn 
who  are  seeking  for  him  in  all  these  ways?  He 
comes  ;  by  the  voices  of  sages,  prophets,  wise  and 
good  teachers,  in  all  lands  and  times.  But  at  last  a 
Teacher  arrives,  who  spake  as  man  never  spake,  and 
before  whose  voice  all  other  voices  are  hushed  and  still. 
He  takes  humanity  by  the  hand,  and  leads  it  to  an 
Infinite  Father,  to  a  holy  law  of  eternal  right,  to  a 
hope  full  of  immortality.  Does  it  not  accord  with  the 
pi'ovidence  of  God,  that  just  such  a  teacher  should  be 
given  to  man  ?  And  shall  we  not  say  that  he  came, 
not  by  the  will  of  tlic  flesh  or  the  will  of  man,  but  by 
the  will  of  the  loving  Father  of  us  all,-*  The  result  has 
been,  that,  wherever  Christianity  has  gone,  men  have 
become  wiser,  better,  stronger.  Christian  nations  are 
not  what  they  should  be  ;  but,  led  by  Christ,  they  are 
the  leaders  of  the  race.  Is  this  an  accident.''  Or  is 
it  not  u  part  of  the  great  plan  of  history.''  And  do  we 
not  see  that  God's  providence  is  eminently  present  in 
this  greatest  event  of  time,  —  the  coming  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  into  the  world  ;  tliat  this  has  given  a  unity  to 
all  modern  civilization  ;  has  made  life  everywhere  new  ; 
has  created  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth .''  Jesus  is 
to-day  the  Leader  of  the  race.  Is  it  reasonable  or  not, 
to  believe  that  God  meant  him  so  to  be? 

I  outgrow  many  teachers,  but  I  find  that  I  have  not 


FROM    THEISM    TO    CHRISTIANITY.  1 93 

outgrown  Christ.  I  come  to  see  more  and  more  of 
truth  in  him  every  day.  The  words  of  his  which  I 
could  not  understand,  I  now  understand  better.  His 
truth  seems  to  me,  every  day,  to  be  more  deep,  more 
high,  more  all-embracing,  more  soul-satisfying.  The 
more  we  study  and  obey  him,  the  more  it  becomes  our 
truth  and  life.  If  we  do  his  will,  we  know  of  the  doc- 
trine whether  it  be  of  God.  So  that  Jesus  is  our 
Master  and  Teacher,  by  the  same  law  of  our  nature  as 
that  by  which  others  are  ;  only  fully,  absolutely,  and 
constantly.  Other  teachers  are  exhausted  :  his  words 
are  inexhaustible.  The  words  of  others  at  last  grow 
cold  and  empty :  his  ax"e  spirit  and  life,  always  vital  in 
every  part.  It  is  this  which  qualifies  him  to  be  the 
,  Teacher  of  the  human  race  for  ever,  and  his  religion  to 
be  the  universal  religion  of  mankind.  He  asks  us  to 
be  his  disciples,  and  take  him  for  our  Teacher.  He 
does  not  ask  blind  assent,  but  intelligent  conviction. 
Our  faith  leads  to  sight.  He  also  asks  us  to  be  his 
servants,  and  take  him  for  Master.  But  he  does  not 
demand  slavish  service,  but  willing  obedience.  His 
seFV'ice  is  perfect  freedom.  The  condition  of  being 
his  disciples  as  of  being  scholars  anywhere,  is  faith  ; 
confidence  in  him  as  a  good  and  wise  teacher.  This 
confidence  makes  us  docile,  ductile ;  attentive  to  his 
word  ;  patient  to  wait,  when  we  cannot  immediately 
comprehend  him.  It  makes  us  expectant  of  truth, 
witli  minds  open  to  influence;  receptive  and  not  shut 
up  ;  not  hardened  in  our  own  dogmas  and  prejudices, 

13 


194  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

but  seeking  for  truth  evermore.  So  at  last,  and  only 
so,  can  we  come  to  compreliend  with  all  saints,  what 
is  the  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and  height  of 
this  gospel  of  Jesus,  and  know  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge. 

And  now  that  we  have  considered  some  of  these 
recent  criticisms  upon  Christianity,  what  do  they  all 
amount  to?  They  arise  from  an  ignorance  of  the 
nature  of  Christianity,  the  nature  of  man,  and  the  law 
of  historic  progress.  They  assume  that  human  nature 
is  naturally  depraved,  and  incapable  of  rising  to  such  a 
height  of  sublime  and  perfect  beauty  as  we  find  in 
Jesus.  Thc}^  treat  religion  as  though  it  were  a  specu- 
lation, set  afloat  by  some  human  brain,  and  which  can 
be  i^hinted  here  or  there  by  the  will  of  man  ;  not  as 
a  grand  providential  upward  movement,  step  by  step, 
of  the  human  race.  And  they  treat  Christianity  as 
though  it  were  the  teaching  of  certain  religious  and 
moral  truths,  and  do  not  see  that  it  is  tlie  life  of  Christ 
himself,  prolonged  from  age  to  age.  They  do  not  see 
that  Christ  is  with  us  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ;  not  as  a  speculation,  but  as  a  living  influence  ; 
and  that  the  real  Christian  is  ^lot  one  who  believes 
a  creed  about  Jesus,  but  one  who  receives  his  truth 
with  an  open  mind,  obeys  his  law  with  a  glad  heart, 
and  is  fed  inwardly  out  of  his  life,  evermore. 


THIRD    STEP. 


FROM   ROMANISM  TO   PROTESTANTISM. 


"  And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth  :  for  one  is 
your  Feather,  ■which  is  in  lieaven."  —  Matt,  xxiii.  9. 

'■  But  when  Peter  was  come  to  Antioch,  I  withstood  him  to 
the  face,  because  he  was  to  be  blamed."  —  Galatians  ii.  11. 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  Idea  of  Romanism  and  of  Protestantism. 

"\T  7"E  now  begin  a  new  series  of  questions.  We 
*  '  have  compared  atheism  with  theism,  and  find 
ourselves  theists.  This  was  our  first  step  upward.  We 
have  next  compared  theism  outside  of  Christianity, 
with  Christian  theism,  and  find  the  List  an  advance 
on  the  other ;  so  that,  in  the  interest  of  human  prog- 
ress, we  have  accepted  Christian  theism  as  an  advance 
on  deism.  But  now  we  see  before  us  two  forms  of 
Christianity.  One  is  called  Romanism,  the  other, 
Protestantism.  The  first  places  supreme  authority^ 
in  the  church,  in  the  outward  organization  ;  the  other, 
in  the  human  soul.  Which  of  these  is  an  advance  on 
the  other  1 

When  we  accept  Christianity  as  our  law  of  life,  we 
have  certain  intellectual  questions  to  answer.  Two  of 
these  become  of  great  importance.  The  first  concerns 
the  source,  the  second  the  criterion  of  Christianity. 
"Where  shall  I  find  Christianity?"  "How  shall  I 
distinguish  the  true  from  the  false  Christianity.''" 
These  are  the  questions  which   divide   the   Roman- 


lyS  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

Catholic  Church  from  all  Protestant  Churches,  —  di- 
vide them  radically  and  fundamentally.  Here  is  the 
principle  of  divergence,  the  source  of  all  other  dif- 
ferences. We  begin,  therefore,  by  the  consideration 
of  the  respective  principles  of  the  two  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

When  the  question  is  asked,  "  Where  shall  I  go  to 
find  Christianity  ?  "  the  Protestant  Churches  reply,  "  To 
the  Bible."  "This,"  they  say,  "is  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice  ; "  meaning,  however,  the 
only  infallible  source  of  belief,  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical. The  Roman  Catholic  replies,  "  To  the  Bible 
and  tradition."  If  I  then  ask,  "  Where  shall  I  find 
tradition.''"  he  rejolies,  "In  the  church  and  its  de- 
cisions." Just'  as  actual  law  consists,  not  merely  of 
statute  law,  but  also  of  common  law ;  not  merely  of 
laws  as  passed  by  the  legislature,  but  also  as  these 
are  interpreted  by  the  decisions  of  successive  courts 
of  justice,  —  so,  according  to  the  Catholics,  Chris- 
tianity is  made  up  of  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  not  as 
we  can  take  them  from  the  Bible  by  personal  study, 
but  as  they  are  explained  to  us  by  the  fathers,  the 
councils,  and  the  popes.  The  other  question  concerns 
the  criterion  of  truth.  In  a  case  of  doubt  as  to  what 
is  Christian  faith,  who  shall  decide  .''  The  Cath 
olio  says,  "  The  church  shall  decide  for  you."  The 
Protestant  says,  "  You  must  decide  for  yourself." 

The  Romanist,  being  asked  for  the  source  of  Chris- 
tianity, replies,  "  The  Scriptures  and  tradition  :"    the 


FlvOM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  1 99 

Protestant  answers,  "  The  Scriptures  only."  The  Ro- 
manist being  asked  for  the  criterion  of  Christianity,  re- 
pHes,  "The  church  ;  "  the  Protestant  answers,  "Private 
judgment." 

This  is  the  issue  between  the  two  bodies,  as  regards 
their  fundamental  speculative  pi'inciple. 

The  Roman-Catholic  theory  is,  that  when  Jesus 
completed  the  work  of  redemption  by  his  deatli, 
and  had  risen,  he  founded  a  church,  or  society  of 
believers,  which  was  a  regularly  organized  and  cor- 
porate body,  consisting  of  laity  and  clergy.  The  clergy, 
again,  consisted  of  three  orders,  —  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons  ;  and  at  the  head  of  all,  was  placed  Peter, 
with  supreme  power,  as  chief  bishop  and  president 
of  the  w^iole  body.  To  him  and  his  successors  Jesus 
gave  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  made 
him  his  vicar  or  viceroy,  —  king  of  the  church  below, 
as  Christ  himself  was  King  above.  Outside  of  the 
church,  thus  constituted,  there  is  no  salvation  ;  because 
this  church  alone  has  authority  to  teach  the  truth,  and 
administer  the  sacraments.  Any  one  remaining  in 
communion  with  this  church  is  safe  from  eternal 
punishment :  any  one  outside  of  it  is  liable  to  eter- 
nal punishment. 

To  us,  children  of  the  Puritans,  Protestants  of  the 
Protestants ;  born  under  a  system  which  teaches  us 
from  childhood  that  it  is  a  duty  to  seek  the  trutli, 
think  for  ourselves,  and  search  the  Scriptures  inde- 
pendently, —  it  seems  strange  that  such  an  enormous 


zoo  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

claim  should  be  allowed  by  any  reasonable  person. 
We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  the  Roman- 
Catholic  Church  so  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  the  public 
opinion  of  the  world,  that  it  must  soon  come  to 
an  end.  But,  in  saying  this,  we  underrate  the  forces 
which  sustain  tliis  great  institution.  The  RDman- 
Catholic  Church  is  still  an  immense  power  in  the 
world,  for  good  or  evil,  probably  for  both.  We  shall 
never  conquer  it  by  assuming  that  its  time  is  past,  or  by 
ignoring  its  power.  It  is  stronger  to-day  than  it  was 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  It  makes  more  prosehtes 
from  Protestantism  by  argument  and  direct  influence, 
than  Protestantism  from  it.  It  concedes  nothing,  re- 
fuses all  compromise,  adds  new  dogmas  to  the  old, 
and  replies  to  the  public  opinion  of  the  world  by  calm 
defiance.  Nearly  a  thousand  bishops  and  prelates, 
summoned  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  are  now  in 
Rome,  by  command  of  the  Pope.  No  congress,  par- 
liament, or  national  assembly  on  earth,  wields  any 
such  power  as  is  to-day  in  the  hands  of  this  great 
council.  If  it  tlcclarcs  the  infalHbility  of  the  pope, 
that  doctrine  must  be  accepted  by  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  persons,  or  they  must  cease  to  be 
Catholics.  It  is  not  merely  among  an  ignorant  people 
that  this  church  rules.  Ilcre,  in  America,  it  is  stead- 
ily advancing.  It  has  the  largest  churches,  the  most 
imposing  cathedrals,  the  best  organized  hospitals,  grow- 
ing up  in  every  part  of  the  country.     In  Boston  and  in 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  20I 

Milwaukee,  in  San  Francisco  and  New  Orleans,  it  is 
taking  possession  of  the  best  situations,  erecting  the 
noblest  buildings,  accumulating  fluids,  making  pros- 
elytes. While  Protestant  sects  are  contending  with  each 
otlier,  and  disputing ;  working  without  concord,  each 
for  itself,  —  this  thoroughly  organized  body  is  doing 
the  same  work  in  the  Arctic  Zone,  and  the  tropics.  It 
is  actuated  by  one  idea,  —  that  of  conquering  all  oppo- 
nents. It  boasts  itself  able  to  put  down  our  free 
institutions,  take  possession  of  our  jDublic  schools,  and 
re-establish  on  this  continent  the  power  it  has  been 
losing  in  the  old.  It  changes  nothing,  improves  noth- 
ing. It  refuses  to  adopt  any  of  the  ideas  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  or  any  of  the  discoveries  of  science 
which  may  conflict  with  its  past  and  present  opinions. 
It  offers  a  frank  defiance  to  the  whole  spirit  of  Amer- 
ican institutions;  to.  the  free  press,  free  schools,  free 
inquiry,  free  thought,  freedom  of  conscience.  The 
pope,  in  his  Syllabus,  declares  it  a  grave  error  to  say 
that  the  civil  government  ought  not  to  put  down  her- 
esy by  force.  If  Rome  gets  the  power  in  this  country, 
no  reason  can  be  given  why  she  should  not  re-establish 
the  Inquisition,  and  burn  heretics  at  the  stake.  If  she 
thought  it  right  to  do  this  in  the  sixteenth  century,  as 
she  does  not  change  her  opinions,  she  must  think  it 
right  to  do  it  in  the  nineteenth  ;  whenever  she  has  the 
power  and  finds  it  expedient.  She  wishes  to  establish, 
here  in  America,  the  system  of  monasteries  and  nun- 
neries which  many  of  the  Catholic  nations  of  Europe 


202  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

have  abolished.  She  will  make  use  of  our  religious 
freedom  to  build  up  her  power ;  and  then  she  will  try 
to  destroy  our  religious  freedom.  That  is  her  expec- 
tation, her  determination,  her  purpose.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  all  Roman  Catholics  are  opposed  to  reli- 
gious freedom,  or  in  fovor  of  persecution  ;  but  the 
power  which  to-day  governs  the  church,  —  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus,  —  has  no  reluctance,  no  hesitation,  in 
so  determining.  If  this  Society  triumph  at  Rome,  in 
the  Ecumenical  Council,  their  power  will  be  absolute 
in  the  church,  and  no  element  there  can  resist  them. 

It  is  a  mistake  made,  almost  universally,  by  Protes- 
tants, to  regard  the  declaration  of  papal  infallibility 
by  the  Vatican  Council  as  a  mere  theoretical  assertion 
of  imjDossible  claims.  Almost  all  Protestant  writers 
are  amused  by  it,  and  consider  it  as  simply  ridiculous. 
But  we  must  not  suppose  that  so  sagacious  a  body  as 
the  Roman  Curia  have  no  important  practical  object 
in  view  in  thus  compelling  the  bishops  to  admit  the 
infiillibility  of  the  pope.  It  means  a  great  deal  practi- 
cally. It  is  simply  changing  a  constitutional  monarchy 
into  an  absolute  despotism.  The  Company  of  Jesus 
has  always  been  such  a  despotism.  Every  member 
of  it  has  been  a  soldier,  bound  to  obey  every  order  of 
his  superiors  without  question.  The  present  plan  is  to 
virtually  transform  the  whole  Catholic  Church  into  the 
Company  of  Jesus.  The  motto  of  the  whole  Catholic 
Church  will  then  be  "  Perinde  ac  cadaver."  Every 
bishop  will  be  bound  to  control  his  diocese  according 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  203 

to  directions  from  Rome.  A  papal  brief  will  then 
be  like  the  order  of  the  general  of  an  army,  to  be 
obeyed  absolutely,  without  hesitation,  by  every  good 
Catholic. 

"Not  theirs  to  make  reply, 
Not  theirs  to  reason  why: 
Theirs  but  to  do  or  die." 

The  plan  is,  by  this  magnificent  centralization,  to 
give  to  the  whole  Catholic  Church  the  aggressive 
power  which  has  made  the  Company  of  Jesus  such 
splendid  soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  pope.  As  a 
nation,  in  its  hour  of  peril  from  internal  rebellion  oi 
external  foes,  chooses  a  dictator,  and  puts  the  whole 
power  in  his  hands  ;  so  the  Catholic  Church,  perceiv- 
ing how  it  is  endangered  by  the  advance  of  science 
and  the  spirit  of  the  age,  proposes  to  make  the  pope 
an  absolute  dictator. 

The  object  is  a  practical  one,  and  perfectly  logical. 
The  declaration  of  infallibility  is  placing  a  secure 
theoretical  foundation  for  the  exercise  of  this  absolute 
power.  When  this  has  been  once  declared,  the  pope 
may,  for  example,  forbid  any  Catholic  children  to  go 
to  schools,  except  such  as  are  under  the  control  of 
ecclesiastics  of  their  own  church.  Any  parent  who 
disobeys,  will  then  be  liable  to  excommunication.  He 
can  only  choose  between  obedience  and  leaving  the 
church.  And  every  Catholic  knows  that  to  leave  the 
church   is   to   expose   himself  to  an  amount  of  social 


204  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

abuse    and    persecution    which   very   few   are   strong 
enough  to  resist. 

The  plan,  then,  is  a  fine  piece  of  strategic  wisdom. 
It  is  true  that  the  bow  may  be  so  much  bent  as  to 
break.  A  very  possible  result  of  carrying  out  this 
decree  may  be  schism.  It  is  quite  possible,  that  it 
may  produce  independent  national  chuixhes  in  France, 
Spain,  Italy,  Austria,  or  Germany.  These  bodies, 
retaining  their  church  buildings,  priests,  liturgies,  as 
at  present,  would  by  no  means  be  objectionable  to  the 
great  mass  of  Catholics.  To  them  the  church  means 
their  own  priest,  and  their  usual  worship.  So  that  with- 
out becoming  Protestants,  or  perceiving  any  change, 
they  might  become  independent  of  Rome  and  of  the 
papacy. 

But  it  is  idle  to  disguise  the  fact,  that  there  is  a  great 
conflict  before  us  in  this  country,  —  not  with  Roman 
Catholics,  nor  with  the  Roman-Catholic  Church  con- 
sidered as  a  religion,  but  with  the  power  of  that 
organization,  as  wielded  by  the  Jesuits.  To  this  com- 
pact, determined,  relentless  power,  we  Protestants  pre- 
sent a  scattered  crowd  of  unorganized  sects,  a  divided 
purpose,  and  an  unsettled  creed.  Not  a  Protestant 
Church  is  certain  of  its  own  opinions.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  Protestants  could  oppose  to  the  infallibility  of 
the  church,  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible.  All  Protes- 
tants believed  in  that  then :  how  many  believe  in  it 
now?  As  the  Macedonian  phalanx  marched  straight 
through   the   mob   of   Persian   soldiers  which   called 


1  Ui).M     KOMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  20S 

itscir  an  army,  so  the  Church  of  Rome,  strong  in'  its 
numbers  and  its  union,  laughs  in  derision  at  the 
divided  sects  of  the  Protestants,  and  anticipates  a  cer- 
tain victory. 

And  its  victory  is  certain,  unless  we  have  on  our 
side  one  power  which  may  essentially  help  us ;  and 
that  is,  TRUTH.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago,  truth,  w^ithout  organization, 
without  numbers,  with  no  prestige,  no  popularity, 
—  truth,  uttered  by  the  lips  of  a  single  man,  Martin 
Luther,  —  shook  all  of  Christendom  to  its  centre,  and 
overthrew  Romanism  through  half  of  Europe.  On 
the  side  of  Rome  are  numbers,  prestige,  organization, 
union  ;  on  the  other  side,  freedom  and  truth.  If  the 
claim  of  Rome  is  false,  nothing  can  save  it.  When 
the  foundations  of  a  building  are  giving  way,  no 
buttresses  against  the  walls  can  keep  it  from  coming 
down. 

The  Roman-Catholic  principle  of  authority,  on 
which  all  else  is  founded,  may  be  briefly  summed  up 
in  these  three  j^i'inciples  :  — 

1.  The  Christian  church  is  an  outward,  visible  or- 
ganization, founded  by  Chvist,  who  made  St.  Peter  its 
head,  who  transmitted  his  authority  to  his  successors, 
the  bishops  of  Rome.  The  Christian  church  consists 
of  all  those  who  are  in  communion  with  Rome  and 
acknowledge  the  papal  primacy,  and  of  no  others. 

2.  The  Christian  church,  thus  understood,  is  infal- 
lible, and  protected  against  all  errors   by  the   Holy 


2o6  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Spirit.     Its  voice,  therefore,  when  uttered,  is  the  voice 
of  God. 

3.  As  no  one  can  be  saved  except  through  Christ, 
and  as  no  one  can  commune  with  Clirist  except  througli 
liis  church,  it  follows  that  outside  of  the  church  there 
is  no  salvation. 

What  are  the  arguments  used  in  support  of  this 
immense  assumption.''  A  few  texts  of  Scripture,  and 
a  few  considerations  taken  from  a  presumed  necessity 
or  expediency.  Christ  said  to  Peter,  "  Ujoon  this  rock 
I  will  build  my  church."  "And  I  will  give  unto  thee 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  He  commanded 
him  to  feed  his  sheep.  He  told  his  disciples  that  he 
would  be  with  them  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  But  the  Protestant  answer  to  these  texts  is, 
that  the  keys,  as  the  expression  of  opening  a. id  shut- 
ting the  gates  of  the  kingdom,  are  also  given  to  the 
otlicr  apostles  (Matt,  xviii.  iS)  and  the  power  of  for- 
giving sin  communicated  to  them  all  (John  xx.  23). 
It  is  also  argued  that  the  meaning  of  Jesus  was  that  his 
church  was  to  be  built  on  the  confession  of  Peter, 
not  on  Peter  himself,  since  he  presently  calls  Peter 
"  Satan  ;  "  since  the  church  was  actually  built  on  the 
confession,  and  was  not  built  on  Peter;  and  it  is  de- 
clared that  no  other  foundation  can  be  laid  than  that 
w'hich  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ  (i  Cor.  iii.  ii). 
Christians  are  said  to  be  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief    corner-stone   (Eph.   ii.    20).      Peter,  therefore, 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  207 

was  not  the  head  of  the  church,  nor  even  the  founda- 
tion of  the  church  in  any  exckisivc  sense.  But  on 
account  of  his  energy,  and  the  personal  conviction 
which  animated  him  in  his  confession  of  Christ,  Petei 
was  made  for  the  moment  the  representative  of  all  tlie 
ajDOStles.  But  if  Peter  was  distinguished  by  Christ  as 
a  leader  among  his  brethren,  he  received  no  authority 
over  them.  For  this  Jesus  nowhere  has  said ;  and 
he  surely  would  have  declared  it,  if  this  had  been  as 
essential  a  feature  of  Christianity  as  the  Roman-Cath- 
olic doctrine  assumes.  Pie  was  once  distinctly  asked 
by  his  disciples  who  would  be  the  greatest  in  his  king- 
dom. He  does  not  tell  them  that  Peter  is  to  be  the 
greatest,  but  rebukes  them  for  the  very  thought  that 
one  should  be  superior  to  the  other  (Matt,  xviii.  i). 
On  another  occasion,  (Matt.  xx.  20-28),  he  taught  the 
same  lesson.  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  Book  of 
Acts  that  Peter  was  regarded  as  superior  in  any  sense 
to  the  other  apostles.  But,  admitting  that  Peter  pos- 
sessed any  such  primacy,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that 
it  was  more  than  personal,  depending  on  his  individual 
character,  and  incapable  of  being  transmitted  to  any 
successors.  Admitting  that  it  was  capable  of  trans- 
mission, it  has  still  to  be  proved  that  the  bishops  of 
Rome  are  the  successors  of  Peter.  It  is  possible  that 
he  may  have  been  at  Rome,  though  there  is  no  evidence 
to  that  effect  in  the  New  Testament.  He  was  in  Jeru- 
salem as  late  as  a.d.  52  (Acts  xv.)  ;  then  in  An- 
ticch   (Gal.  ii.  11)  ;  also  in  Babylon   (i   Peter  v.  13). 


208  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Neither  of  his  two  epistles  speak  of  any  residence  in 
Rome.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, does  not  salute  Peter  as  bishop  of  that  church, 
nor  even  mention  his  name.  Afterward,  when  Paul 
goes  to  Rome  (Acts  xxviii.),  he  docs  not  find  Peter 
there.  An  ancient  tradition,  indeed  (Ignatius  in  Epist. 
ad  Romanos  ;  Eusebius  ii.  25  ;  Irenajus,  Adv.  Hajr.  iii. 
I,  3),  mentions  his  martyrdom  at  Rome,  a.d.  6*]. 
That  he  was  a  bishop  there,  is  first  stated  by  Jerome. 
Though  Eusebius  (iii.  i,  2)  mentions  Peter's  preaching 
in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and 
lastly  in  Rome,  where  he  was  crucified,  he  says  nothing 
of  his  having  been  bishop  there.  He  rather  intimates 
that  Linus  was  the  first  bisliop  "■  after  the  martyrdom 
of  Paul  and  Peter."  Irenseus  also  says  plainly  that 
the  holy  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  founded  tlie  Roman 
church,  and  made  Linus  its  bishop.  The  Apostolic 
Constitutions  (vii.  46)  say  that  of  the  church  of  Rome 
Linus  was  the  first  bishop,  ordained  by  Paul ;  and 
Clement,  after  Linus's  death,  ordained  by  Peter. 

But  though  we  grant  that  Peter  was  made  head  of 
the  church,  that  he  was  in  Rome,  and  that  he  was 
bishop  there,  this  does  not  prove  at  all  that  the  bishops 
of  Rome  have  inherited  his  primacy  or  his  authority. 
His  authority  was  that  of  an  inspired  apostle,  taught 
by  Jesus  himself,  and  a  witness  of  his  resurrection. 
The  bishops  of  Rome,  since  the  time  of  Peter,  have 
had  none  of  these  claims  to  respect. 

And  even  if  the  bishops  of  Rome  are  successors  of 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  2O9 

Peter,  this  does  not  prove  their  infallibility,  or  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  church.  Peter  was  not  infallible  him- 
self; how  could  he  transmit  infallibility.''  He  was 
wrong  in  the  course  he  took  at  Antioch,  and  gravely 
erred,  so  as  to  be  rebuked  by  Paul,  and  charged  with 
dissimulation  (Gal.  ii.  ii.)  The  result  was  the 
same,  whether  his  error  here  was  intellectual  or 
moral :  his  conduct  gave  a  false  impression  of 
Christianity.  He  taught  dangerous  error  by  his  ac- 
tions. If  he  was  intellectually  infallible,  such  infalli- 
bility was  of  no  use,  since  it  did  not  prevent  him  from 
teaching  false  doctrine  by  his  conduct. 

The  principal  arguments,  however,  relied  upon  to 
prove  the  infallibility  of  the  church,  are  derived  from 
the  desirableness,  advantage,  or  necessity  of  such  a 
power.  In  this  way  Moehler  (Symbolism,  §  xxxvii.) 
argues  that  the  chuixh  is  infallible,  because  it  ought  to 
be  so.  "  Every  believer,"  he  says,  "  must  bestow  his 
whole  confidence  upon  her ;  and  she  must  therefore 
merit  the  same.  Giving  himself  up  to  her  guidance, 
he  ought,  in  consequence,  to  be  secured  against  de- 
lusion :  she  must  be  inerrable."  In  like  manner,  Mr. 
O.  A.  Brownson  has  argued  that  the  true  church  of 
.Christ  is,  and  must  be,  an  authoritative  and  infallible 
body  of  pastors  and  teachers.  His  reasons  are,  that 
to  be  saved  one  must  be  a  Christian  ;  to  be  a  Christian, 
one'  must  believe  in  Christianity  ;  that  this  belief  must 
be  verbal,  having  for  its  object  distinct  propositions ; 

14 


aib  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

that  these  may  be  misunderstood,  and  so  need  an  in- 
fallible interpreter  to  explain  them. 

The  Protestant  answer  to  this  train  of  argument  is 
as  follows :  — 

If  human  salvation  depends  on  belonging  to  any 
particular  outward  organization,  this  would  certainly 
be  distinctly  stated  in  the  New  Testament.  Jesus  no- 
where tells  us  that  his  church  is  that  which  is  to  be  in 
communion  with  Peter  and  his  successors,  that  this 
church  will  be  endowed  with  infallibility,  or  that  out- 
side of  it  there  is  no  salvation. 

On  the  contrary,  all  that  Jesus  says,  in  regard  to 
human  salvation,  indicates  that  it  is  personal  and  not 
organic,  —  mediated  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  through 
other  lives,  but  not  bound  up  with  any  external  cor- 
poration, organization,  mode  of  worship,  or  church 
connection.  The  Samaritan  woman  raised  the  ques- 
tion which  was  the  true  church,  that  of  the  Jews,  or 
that  of  the  Samaritans.  Jesus  replied  that  neither  was 
the  true  church,  as  far  as  true  worship  was  concerned  ; 
that  true  worship  was  worshipping  in  spirit  and  in  truth, 
not  according  to  the  Jewish  or  the  Samaritan  ritual. 
He  knew  nothing,  taught  nothing,  of  worship  localized 
at  Jerusalem  or  at  Rome.  He  does  not  say,  "  He  that 
communes  with  me  through  Peter  and  his  syccessors,  he 
it  is  that  loveth  me  ; "  but,  "  He  that  hath  my  com- 
mandments, and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me." 
He  does  not  say,  "  This  is  life  eternal,  to  receive  the 
sacraments  at  the  hands  of  the  true  priesthood  ;"  but, 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  2H 

"  This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  Thee,  the 
onl}'  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent." 
He  does  not  say,  "  Blessed  are  those  who  belong  to  the 
true  church  ; "  but,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart." 
Now,  if  Jesus  knew  and  intended  that  salvation  was 
only  possible  by  means  of  union  with  a  certain  out- 
ward organization,  can  it  be  that  he  should  nevei 
once  have  mentioned  that  fact?  This,  of  itself,  is 
sufficient  to  refute  the  audacious  claim  of  any  visible 
church  to  be  the  only  avenue  to  Christ  and  to  heaven. 

Again :  if  our  salvation  depends  on  our  belonging 
to  the  true  church,  our  salvation  depends  on  our 
ability  to  discover  it.  Amid  the  conflict  of  sects  and 
parties,  we  must  be  able  to  find  our  way  through  the 
intricacies  of  controversy,  the  plausibility  of  opposing 
arguments,  and  the  difficulty  of  learned  investigation. 
Mr.  Brownson,  in  the  fervor  of  his  conversion  to  the 
Roman-Catholic  Church,  published  an  argument  in  its 
behalf;  reduced,  as  he  believed,  to  its  simplest  form. 
This  argument  occupied  sixty  pages  of  his  review,  and 
consisted  of  a  chain  of  jDropositions,  any  one  of  which 
failing,  the  whole  would  go  to  the  ground.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  God  has  made  the  salvation  of  his  creatures 
depend  upon  the  possession  of  such  a  logical  acumen, 
and  trained  intellect,  as  shall  enable  them  properly  to 
wcigli  such  arguments  as  these  ?  Is  this  the  gospel 
which  is  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  re- 
vealed unto  babes? 

I  have  before  me  a  volume  called,  "  Evidence  for  the 


212  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

Papacy,"  by  the  Hon.  Colin  Lindsay,  published  in 
1S70.  It  contains,  "the  grounds  which  led  to  his 
conversion  to  the  Catholic  Church."  The  author  says 
he  devoted  more  than  six  months'  incessant  study  to 
the  question,  before  he  was  brought  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  ought  to  become  a  Roman  Catholic.  He  was 
an  intelligent  and  educated  man,  who  had  already 
studied  the  history  of  Christianity,  and  had  sonie 
leanings  toward  Rome.  Now  if  it  takes  six  months 
of  conscientious  study,  to  enable  such  a  man  to  see 
clearly  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  Roman  Church, 
how  is  it  possible  for  the  great  mass  of  men  ever  to 
become  Catholics,  honestly  and  from  clear  conviction  ? 
But  if  they  do  not  become  so,  they  are  outside  of 
Christianity,  and  outside  of  the  way  of  salvation. 

It  is  argued  that  an  infallible  guide  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  prevent  men  from  going  astray,  and  that,  there- 
fore, Jesus  established  the  Roman-Catholic  Chuixh  as 
such  a  guide.  This  argument  assumes  that  the  New 
Testament  is  so  obscure  a  book,  that  we  cannot  learn 
from  it  the  way  to  God  and  heaven,  unless  we  have 
an  infallible  guide  to  show  us  how  to  interpret  it.  But 
Jesus  did  not  represent  the  way  to  heaven  as  so  mys- 
terious as  this.  On  one  occasion  he  was  asked  this 
very  question,  "  Master,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit 
eternal  life.''"  He  made  the  inquirer  answer  his  own 
question.  Love  God,  and  love  your  neighbor.  This 
Jesus  declared  to  be  the  right  answer.  But  if  it  is 
true  that,  in  order  to  love  God  and  our  neighbor,  wc 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  213 

must  belong  to  the  true  church  ;  and  that  to  fintl  out 
which  is  the  true  church,  we  must  be  able  to  study  ec- 
clesiastical histoiy  and  sift  a  complicated  argument,  — 
then  the  lawyer's  answer  was  not  the  right  one.  What 
he  had  to  do  to  inherit  eternal  life,  was,  in  the  first  place 
to  join  the  true  church,  and  become  one  of  Christ's 
disciples. 

One  argument,  often  dwelt  upon,  to  show  the  ne- 
cessity of  an  infallible  church,  is,  that  we  need  some 
certain  assurance  of  truth.  We  need  an  infallible 
authority  to  lean  upon,  in  order  to  be  at  rest  from 
doubt  and  uncertainty  in  matters  of  religion.  But  this 
argument  would  seem  to  show  that  we  ought  also  to 
have  an  infallible  guide  to  show  us  the  way  into  the 
infallible  church.  For  whether  is  it  easier  to  under- 
stand the  words  of  Jesus,  or  to  understand  the  argu 
ments  in  behalf  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  If  we  cannot 
understand  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  or  the  parable 
of  the  Good  Samaritan,  without  an  infallible  church  to 
explain  them  to  us,  still  less  can  we  find  our  way 
through  the  tangled  thicket  of  the  Roman-Catholic 
and  Protestant  argument  without  some  infallible  guide 
to  show  us  which  is  right.  This  simple  consideration, 
we  are  bold  to  say,  is  a  sufiicient  answer  to  the  whole 
argument  for  the  necessity  of  an  infallible  church.  If 
an  infallible  church  is  necessary,  an  infixUible  guide 
to  the  infallible  church  is  still  more  necessary.  Nor 
does  the  difficulty  stop  here.  We  shall  also  need  an 
infallible  witness  to  the  infallible  guide.    We  shall  then 


214  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

need  an  infallible  proof  of  the  infallibility  of  the  wit- 
ness to  the  infallible  guide  into  the  infallible  church. 
There  is  plainly  no  end  to  this  chain  of  necessities. 
Every  argument  which  goes  to  show  the  necessity  of 
an  infallible  church,  shows  also  the  necessity  of  an 
infinite  succession  of  infallibilities  to  direct  us  to  it. 
But  suppose  this  difficulty  somehow  obviated,  and 
tliat  we  are  at  last  safely  arrived  within  the  infallible 
church.  We  have  now  a  living  witness  to  explain  the 
truth  to  us,  and  make  us  understand  what  it  is.  But 
here  comes  a  new  difficulty.  In  receiving  this  truth, 
is  our  mind  to  be  active  or  passive .''  Is  it  to  consider 
it,  understand  it,  express  it  in  forms  adapted  to  its  own 
habits  of  thought ;  or  is  it  merely  to  receive  it  passively, 
without  thinking  about  it  at  all .''  In  other  words,  are  we 
to  try  to  see  the  truth  of  the  proposition  ;  or  are  we  to 
assent  to  its  terms,  even  though  they  seem  to  us  to  be 
fiilse?  If  the  first,  if  the  mind  is  to  be  active,  then 
it  is  plain  that  the  infallibility  instantly  disappears. 
Infallible  truth  falling  into  a  fallible  mind,  and  ar- 
ranged, according  to  its  own  fallible  judgment,  in 
fallible  human  language,  loses  its  infallible  character. 
This,  the  Roman  Church  sees  so  clearly,  that  it  does 
not  require  conviction,  but  only  assent.  It  does  not 
wijh  active  thought,  but  only  passive  submission.  It 
knows  well  that  we  cannot  believe  by  being  told  to 
believe.  It  therefore  only  requires  that  we  should 
assent  to  the  truth  of  what  is  told  us.  But  if  wiiat 
is  told  us  seems  to  us  to  be  false,  then  to  assent  to  its 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  215 

truth  is  equivalent  to  telling  a  falsehood.  In  requiring 
assent  to  its  doctrines,  the  Church  of  Rome  deliberately 
places  a  lie  at  the  foundation  of  its  whole  system.  The 
first  duty  of  a  man,  in  order  to  go  to  heaven,  is  to  tell 
a  lie.  It  is  to  say  that  he  believes  what  he  does  not 
believe  ;  to  give  assent  where  there  is  no  conviction  ; 
to  promise  to  seem  to  accept  what  in  his  soul  he 
denies :  in  short,  to  believe  w^ith  his  will,  and  not  with 
his  intellect.  This  is  the  root-filsehood  in  the  Roman- 
Catliolic  system,  which  poisons  it  all  the  way  through. 
This  takes  out  of  it  simple  honesty,  truthfulness,  solid 
conviction,  and  vitiates  the  whole  system.  And  in 
thus  demanding  assent  instead  of  conviction,  it  is 
curious  and  tragic  to  see  that  it  contradicts  the  fun- 
damental text  on  which  its  whole  system  rests.  When 
Jesus  told  Peter  that  l;e  would  build  his  church  on 
"  this  rock,"  it  was  because,  in  his  declaration  of  faith 
in  Christ,  he  had  not  said  what  "  flesh  and  blood  had 
revealed  "  unto  him,  but  what  his  Heavenly  Father  had 
shown.  That  is,  the  conviction  which  made  Peter  a 
I'ock  was  his  own  interior  sight  of  the  truth,  and  not 
a  mere  outward  assent  to  the  statement  of  another. 
It  was  not  a  hearsay  belief,  which  flesh  and  blood  had 
revealed,  but  a  sight  of  truth  which  God  revealed  to 
him.  Those  who  call  themselves  Peter's  successors 
reverse  Peter's  method,  and  ask  us  to  believe  in  "  flesh 
and  blood  "  communications,  and  not  the  inspirations 
of  the  Spirit  in  our  own  souls. 

See,  then,  to  what  a  curious  result  we  have  arrived. 


2l6  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  ecclesia  docens^  or  teaching  church,  does  not, 
as  it  seems,  teach  at  all.  It  merely  commands.  "Sic 
volo,  sic  jubco  ;  stat  pro  ratione  voluntas."  An  in- 
fallil>le  church  might,  one  would  suppose,  teach 
infalliblv.  It  ought  to  convince  the  understanding, 
clear  away  difficulties,  remove  doubts,  pour  a  flood 
of  light  into  the  intellect,  and  make,  not  obedient  sc: - 
vants,  but  clear-sighted  friends.  So  did  Jesus  teach, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  previous  chapters.  He  said, 
"  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants,  for  the  servant 
knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth  :  but  I  have  called  you 
friends ;  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father 
I  have  made  known  unto  you."  Nor  did  the  apostles 
ask  for  any  blind  submission,  though  clothed  with 
apostolic  authority.  They  told  their  disciples  to  prove 
all  things,  to  retain  what  was  good  ;  to  abstain  from 
whatever  appeared  to  be  evil ;  not  to  believe  every 
spirit,  but  to  try  the  spirits.  They  let  their  light 
shine.  When  Paul  found  those  at  Corinth  who  did 
not  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  he  did 
not  order  them  to  retract  their  opinion  and  submit  to 
his  authority,  but  argued  with  them,  in  onler  to  con- 
vince them. 

For  such  reasons  as  these,  we,  as  Protestants,  reject 
tlie  fundamental  principle  of  the  Roman-Catholic 
Church.  We  do  not  find  any  such  authority  con- 
ferred by  Christ.  We  do  not  find  any  such  church 
established  in  the  New  Testament.  We  do  not  per- 
ceive  its   necessity,  its   advantage,  or   its  expediency. 


FKOM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  21 7 

On  the  conti'ary,  it  seems  to  us  at  war  with  the  princi- 
ples of  the  gospel,  and  the  nature  of  the  human  mind. 
It  enslaves  the  soul,  and  teaches  it  to  falsify  its  own 
instincts.  It  teaches  that  God  is  better  pleased  with 
insincere  conformity,  than  with  honest  dissent ;  that 
he  prefers  passive  submission  to  active  and  growing 
conviction. 

No  doubt  much  of  this  evil  principle  still  remains  in 
the  Protestant  Churches.  As  Milton  says,  "  This  iron 
yoke  of  outward  conformity  hath  left  a  slavish  print 
U23on  our  necks :  the  ghost  of  a  linen  decency  still 
haunts  us."  Protestants  also  are  satisfied  if  men  will 
assent  to  an  orthodox  creed  :  whether  they  believe  it 
or  not,  is  of  much  smaller  consequence.  But,  in  this, 
Protestants  are  inconsistent  with  their  fundamental 
principle  of  private  judgment.  The  logic  of  tliat 
principle,  therefore,  will  gradually  but  surely  lead  them 
to  perfect  freedom  of  thought.  But  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  based  itself  upon  the  opposite  principle. 
Its  method  is  to  repress  inquiry,  chain  thought,  and 
substitute  everywhere  assertion  for  honest  inquiry.  It 
holds  itself  justified  in  denying  the  plainest  facts  of 
history  when  they  seem  injurious  to  the  church.  Pious 
falsehoods  have  long  been  favorite  weapons  in  its 
armory.  Many  Catholic  writers  are  indeed  pure  from 
this  stain.  But  the  tendency  in  the  church  is  not  to 
throw  it  oft',  but  to  retain  it,  and  to  intensify  it.  So 
long  as  the  Jesuits  rule  in  Rome,  so  long  will  Jesuitism 
pei-vade  the  church  with  its  detestable  spirit. 


2lS  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  magnificent  success  of  Protestantism  in  the 
sixteenth  century  was  checked  in  the  seventeenth. 
It  was  then  arrested,  and  never  renewed.  This  was 
perhaps  owing  to  two  errors.  The  first  error  of 
Protestantism  consisted  in  making  the  Scripture  the 
only  source  of  faith  and  practice.  It  did  this  because 
it  wanted  an  infallible  standard  of  faith  to  oppose  to 
the  infallibility  of  the  Roman  Church.  It  adopted  this 
doctrine  as  a  matter  of  expediency,  as  a  war-cr}' ;  and 
also,  because  the  heart  of  man  cries  out  for  something 
outwardly  solid  to  stand  on.  It  could  not  have  an 
infallible  church,  so  it  took  an  infallible  Bible.  This 
was  well  as  long  as  men  believed  the  Bible  to  be  in- 
fallible. But  the  conscientious  study  of  the  Scripture 
revealed  in  it  contradictions  and  difficulties :  nothing 
then  seemed  to  remain  firm.  Protestantism  ought  to 
have  said  :  "  There  is  no  infallible  source  of  Christian 
knowledge ;  no  outward  infallibility  possible  or  de- 
sirable. The  Bible,  human  history,  the  soul  itself, 
Christian  experience,  reason,  —  all  are  sources  of 
Christian  knowledge,  but  none  are  infiillible,  nor 
were  meant  to  be." 

The  other  mistake,  more  important  still  in  its  con- 
sequences than  the  first,  was  the  actual  abandonment 
of  the  second  principle  of  Protestantism ;  viz.,  the 
Right  of  Private  Judgment.  The  Pi^otestant  Church, 
having  taken  the  ground  of  Private  Judgment,  ought 
to  have  encouraged  men  to  judge  for  themselves,  no 
matter  what  results  they  arrived  at.     They  ought  not 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  219 

to  say,  "Judge,  but  come  to  our  conclusions,  else  we 
shall  exclude  you."  This  showed  a  want  of  trust  in 
Christianity  itself.  They  should  have  said,  "  Let  men 
go  to  Christ,  and  then  all  will  be  safe." 

Wlicnever  Protestantism  does  this,  becoming  true  to 
its  own  principle,  it  will  once  more  go  forward.  Then 
it  will  again  become  a  mighty  advancing  Power,  with 
"  man}'  members,  but  one  body."  Then  it  will  have  a 
variety  in  unity,  and  a  unity  in  variety.  It  will  then 
accept  all  the  good  in  the  Roman-Catholic  Church ; 
all  the  truth  in  all  heresies ;  all  the  good  outside  of 
Christianity,  in  heathen  religions.  It  will  become 
large,  deep,  high,  and  advancing,  as  it  was  in  the  be- 
ginning. 

The  day  is  to  come  in  which  there  is  to  be  a  truly 
Catholic  Church,  which  shall  include  Roman  organi- 
zation and  Protestant  freedom,  —  shall  include  all  who 
call  themselves  Christians  and  who  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  This  will  be  the  true 
Coming  of  Christ.  When  this  great  day  arrives,  all 
the  ancient  prophecies  will  be  fulfilled.  Then  wrong 
will  cease,  the  sword  be  beaten  into  a  ploughshare, 
the  cow  and  the  bear  feed  together,  and  a  little  child 
lead  them.  Then  the  world  will  be  converted  to 
Christianity ;  and  Christians,  loving  each  other,  will 
be  able  to  make  the  world  believe  that  God  has  seat 
their  Master  to  be  its  leader  and  its  guide  to  Him. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Doctrines  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church. 

TN  our  last  chapter  we  criticised  the  fundamental 
■*-  idea  of  the  Roman-CathoHc  Church.  We  shall  next 
consider  the  doctrinal  systems  of  Romanism  and  Prot- 
estantism. We  first  examined  the  sources  and  tests 
of  truth,  or  the  authority  of  the  church  and  of  reason. 
We  have  now  to  look  at  the  two  methods  of  salva- 
tion as  indicated  by  the  two  systems  respectively. 

The  great  question  of  practical  religion  is  this : 
How  shall  a  man  be  just  before  God .''  or,  to  use  a 
more  modern  phraseology.  How  does  goodness  come .'' 
And  there  are  two  answers.  The  first  is.  Let  a  man 
do  good,  and  he  will  become  good.  Let  him  begin  by 
doing  all  the  good  he  can,  and  he  will  be  able  to  do 
more.  Goodness  will  work  in  from  the  surface  to  the 
centre.  Good  actions  will  pi^oduce  good  motives.  He 
that  is  faithful  in  the  least  will,  by  and  by,  become 
faithful  in  much.  He  who  employs  well  his  single 
talent  will,  by  and  by,  have  more.  Faithfulness  will 
lead  tc  faith :  good  conduct  will  at  last  create  a  good 
heart.  And  hence  the  formula  of  the  Apostle  James  : 
"Man  is  justified  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  only." 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  231 

The  other  answer  is  exactly  opposite.  It  says,  '  If 
one  wishes  to  do  good,  he  must  first  become  good. 
Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life.  It  takes  a  good 
tree  to  bring  forth  good  fruit.  Until  the  heart  is  right, 
it  is  impossible  to  do  any  thing  really  right ;  when  the 
heart  is  right,  it  is  impossible  to  do  any  thing  really 
wrong.  He  that  is  born  of  God  does  not  commit  sin. 
Goodness  works  out  from  the  centre  to  the  circum- 
ference :  the  soul  makes  the  body,  not  the  body  the 
soul.  Good  motives  will  produce  good  actions.  Faith 
results  in  fidelity :  a  good  heart  creates  a  good  life. 
And  hence  the  formula  of  the  Apostle  Paul :  "  We 
conclude  that  man  is  justified  by  faith,  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law." 

Which  of  these  methods  is  the  true  one  ?  The  an- 
swer of  common  sense,  and  of  experience,  is  that  both 
are  true.  Every  time  one  does  a  good  action  it  makes 
him  a  better  man.  Every  thing  which  purifies  the 
heart  leads  to  better  actions.  And  therefore,  at  first, 
both  methods  prevailed  in  the  Christian  Church. 
Faith  and  works  were  accounted  the  two  wings  with 
which  the  soul  flies  upward  to  God.  But  witli  the 
division  of  the  church  in  the  sixteenth  century,  each 
section  adopted  and  intensified  one  of  these  principles. 
Protestant  theology  said  we  are  saved  by  faith  only. 
Catholic  theology  said  we  are  saved  by  sacraments. 
And  this  constitutes  the  vital,  fundamental  distinction 
between  the  doctrinal  systems  of  the  two  churches. 

Orthodox  Protestant  theology  declares  that  until  a 


232  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

man  is  inwardly  converted  and  changed  all  his  best 
acts  are  odious  in  the  sight  of  God.  His  noblest  vir- 
tues are  splendid  vices.  To  try  to  make  himself  better 
by  doing  his  duties,  or  by  practising  works  of  charity, 
is  to  deceive  himself.  To  such  extremes,  and  to 
such  fatal  antinomianism  has  Protestant  theology  often 
gone,  wholly  misunderstanding  and  exaggerating  Paul's 
doctrine. 

Meantime,  the  Roman-Catholic  Church  has  gone  to 
the  opposite  extreme,  and  has  taught  that  we  are  saved 
by  outward  sacraments.  These  sacraments  are  seven  : 
baptism,  confirmation,  the  eucharist,  penance,  extreme 
unction,  holy  orders,  and  matrimony.  By  each  of 
these  a  supernatural  grace  is  infused  into  the  soul. 
When  the  outward  action  is  performed  in  the  right 
way,  the  inward  result  follows  of  necessity.  The  only 
condition  is  that  the  pi'iest  shall  intend  to  perform  it 
aright.  Thus  in  the  time  of  Pope  Nicholas  L,  a  Jew 
baptized  the  Bulgarians  for  money ;  and  the  pope 
declared  their  baptism  valid.  In  the  time  of  Pope 
Innocent  IX.,  some  Saracens,  who  did  not  even  know 
what  the  Christian  Church  was,  performed  baptism, 
and  the  pope  declared  that  also  to  be  valid  baptism. 
The  whole  virtue  lay  in  the  external  act,  apart  from 
the  motives  of  tliose  concerned.* 

The  theory  of  the  Catholic  Churcli  is  that  by  bap- 
tism original  sin  is  removed  and  spiritual  life  is  com- 

*  Hase,  Handlnich  der  Protcstantisclien  Polemik,  p.  377. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  :233 

municated  to  the  soul.*  He  who  dies  without  being 
baptized  goes  to  hell :  he  who  is  baptized,  and  then 
dies,  goes  to  heaven.  Thus  the  mercy  of  God  is  made 
to  depend  on  the  carelessness  or  thoughtfulness  of  a 
nurse,  or  a  mother.  If  the  mother  forgets  the  bap- 
tism, or  puts  oft'  the  baptism,  and  the  child  falls  sick 
and  dies,  God  is  unable  to  save  it ;  if  the  mother  re- 


*  Thomas  Aquinas  has  foiu"  questions  upon  baptism,  each 
containing  several  sections.  The  first  question  concerns 
the  form  ;  the  second,  Who  ought  to  administer  it?  the  third, 
"Who  ought  to  receive  it.^  the  fourth.  What  are  the  effects.'' 
Under  the  last,  he  says  that  all  sins  are  removed  by  bap- 
tism, and  all  guilt  before  God,  proceeding  from  original 
sin.  By  baptism  he  teaches  that  one  is  delivered  from  eter- 
nal punishment,  and  obtains  the  beatific  vision,  but  is  not 
delivered  from  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  sin.  The 
Council  of  Trent  anathematized  those  w^ho  said  that  baptism 
was  not  necessary  to  salvation.  The  Roman  Catechism  de- 
clares that  the  faithful  must  be  taught  that  all  men  are  born 
subject  to  eternal  misery,  from  which  they  can  only  be  saved 
by  being  baptized.  It  also  declares  that  there  is  no  way  of 
safety  for  children  except  through  baptism.  Bellarmine  as- 
serts that  the  church  has  always  believed  that  infants,  depart- 
ing from  this  life  without  being  baptized,  must  perish. 
Moehler  says  that,  according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  original 
sin  in  children,  in  adults  original  sin  together  with  actual 
sins,  is  by  the  due  reception  of  baptism  removed.  See  Thom. 
Aq.  Summa,  P.  iii.  qu.  66,  &c.  Canons  and  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  can.  3,  4,  5.  Catechismus  Romanus,  ii.  2, 
34.  Moehler,  Symbolism,  chaps.  28,  32.  Roman  theologians 
usually  place  the  substance  of  baptism  in  the  application  of 
water,  the  use  of  the  baptismal  formula,  and  the  intention  to 
baptize  by  him  who  administers  it. 


224  STEPS    OF   BELIEF, 

members  and  has  the  child  baptized,  God  is  obHged  to 
save  it.  Thus  baptism  is  turned  into  a  charm,  a  piece 
of  magic,  by  which  a  power  is  exercised  over  the 
Deity,  without  any  relation  to  morality  or  piety.  Two 
missionaries,  we  will  suppose,  go  into  the  heart  of 
India  or  China.  One  devotes  himself  to  teaching 
Christianity,  and  possibly  succeeds  in  convincing  a 
hundred  persons  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  but  bap- 
tizes none  of  them.  The  other  does  not  teach  Chris 
tianity  at  all,  but  persuades  a  thousand  mothers  to  let 
him  baptize  their  children.  They  do  not  know  what 
it  means,  but  think  it  a  pretty  thing  to  have  it  done. 
According  to  the  Roman-Catholic  doctrine,  the  first 
missionary,  who  preaches  the  gospel,  has  not  saved  a 
single  soul  from  hell ;  but  the  other,  who  merely  bap- 
tized without  teaching  any  thing,  has  saved  a  thou- 
sand. 

This,  as  I  said,  is  certainly  making  of  baptism  a 
magic  ceremony.  But  this  principle  has  been  carried 
very  far  by  Roman-Catholic  missionaries.  Xavier,  the 
apostle  to  the  Hindoos,  baptized  in  one  month  ten 
thousand  Indians  at  Travancore.  It  is  evident  that  he 
could  not  have  given  them  much  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  Jesuits  sometimes  baptized  the  Chinese 
secretly  behind  their  backs ;  and  one  missionary  him- 
self says,  that  he  carried  with  him  always  two  bottles, 
one  containing  holy  water,  and  the  other  a  sweet- 
scented  water.  When  the  mothers  brought  him  tiicir 
sick  children,  he  would  put  some  of  the  fragrant  tiuid 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  225 

upon  them  to  please  the  mothers,  and  then  baptize 
them  secretly  with  the  other.  All  this  is  consistent 
with  the  theory  that  the  child  is  saved  by  the  outward 
act.  But  it  is  not  very  consistent  with  the  Apostle 
Paul's  saying :  "  I  thank  God  I  baptized  none  of  you, 
except  Crispus  and  Gains,  and  perhaps  the  family 
of  Stephen,  and  I  think  no  others ;  for  Christ  sent  me 
not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gospel." 

One  result  of  making  the  value  of  Christianity  de- 
pend on  an  outward  act  is  to  make  all  its  details  of 
great  importance.  If  being  baptized  makes  the  dif- 
ference between  heaven  and  hell,  it  is  ver}-  important 
to  know  exactly  what  baptism  is.  Accordingly,  it  has 
been  carefully  defined  by  Roman-Catholic  theologians. 
It  consists  in  three  parts,  (i)  application  of  water,  (2) 
repeating  the  formula,  "  I  baptize  thee,"  &c.,  (3)  the 
intention  to  baptize,  on  the  part  of  the  person  who 
performs  it. 

The  question  at  one  time  arose  (and  very  naturally) 
in  the  Catholic  Church,  How  much  water  is  necessary 
for  valid  baptism  }  For  if  an  infant's  salvation  depends 
on  its  receiving  Christian  baptism,  and  if  baptism  is 
invalid  which  is  wanting  in  either  of  the  three  con- 
stituents above  mentioned,  it  is  certainly  highly  im- 
portant to  know  exactly  how  much  water  is  necessary. 
It  has  always  been  the  doctrine  of  Catholics  that  total 
in.mersion  is  not  essential.  How  little  water,  then,  is 
suflicient.''  Is  the  quantity  of  moisture  which  always 
adheres  to   the   ends  of  the   fingers    enough .''      This, 

IS 


226  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

it  is  agreed,  is  not  enough.  Finally,  it  has  been 
decided  by  the  theologians  that  the  smallest  quantity 
sufficient  for  baptism  is  a  drop  of  water  which  will 
run  upon  the  face.  Hence  the  difference  between 
the  salvation  and  everlasting  damnation  of  an  infant  is 
the  difference  between  a  drop  of  water  which  will  run, 
and  a  drop  which  will  not.  If,  when  the  child  was 
baptized,  there  was  a  drop  applied  to  its  face  which 
ran,  and  the  child  dies,  he  is  safe,  and  goes  to  heaven. 
If  it  did  not  run,  and  the  child  dies,  he  goes  to  hell. 

Such  views  degrade  the  character  of  God  to  the 
level  of  the  pagan  deities,  or  Eastern  genii,  who  can 
be  controlled  by  the  correct  application  of  a  charm. 
Religion  and  its  sacraments  are  reduced  to  magical 
incantations.  The  soul  is  fed  with  external  cere- 
monies instead  of  spiritual  food.  The  tendency  of 
such  a  sacramental  salvation  is  to  cause  men  to  make 
clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  the  platter  only. 

Another  important  sacrament,  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  is  that  of  penance.  It  consists  of  three  parts : 
penitence,  confession,  and  satisfaction. 

All  sins  are  either  mortal  or  venial.  A  mortal  sin 
is  that  which  destroys  in  the  soul  the  principle  of  life 
imparted  by  baptism,  and  leaves  him  who  commits  it 
again  exposed  to  eternal  dainnation.  The  sacrament 
of  penance  then  comes  in,  to  restore  the  lost  grace, 
and  to  renew  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul.  The  first 
part  of  penance  is  sorrow  for  sin,  and  its  consequences. 
But  this  sorrow  (according  to  the  Council  of  Trent, 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  227 

Scss.  xiv.  Poenit.  c.  4)  need  not  pK)ceed  from  the  love 
of  God,  but  only  from  fear  of  hell.  The  second  part 
of  penance  is  confession,  including  absolution.  Ac 
cording  to  the  Decrees  of  Trent,  confession  must  be 
made  to  a  priest,  at  least  once  a  year.  The  power 
of  the  priest  to  forgive  sin  is  founded  on  the  passages 
of  Scripture  (John  xx,  22  ;  Matt,  xviii.  18),  in  which 
Jesus  says  to  his  disciples,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Whose  soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  to  them, 
and  vidiose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained." 
"Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven."  But  the  Roman  Church  assumes,  with- 
out proof,  that  Jesus  gave  his  disciples  this  power 
as  priests,  and  not  as  Christians. '  According  to  the 
Protestant  view,  ever}'  true  Christian,  just  as  far  as  he 
possesses  genuine  Christian  experience,  has  the  same 
power  of  binding  and  loosing  which  the  apostles  had. 
Every  one  who  is  in  the  spirit  of  truth  and  love  can 
remit  or  retain  sin.  His  words  do  not  merely  an- 
nounce an  official  and  formal  forgiveness,  but  convey 
the  essence  of  forgiveness  to  the  soul.  He  speaks  to 
the  conscience  and  heart,  as  God  speaks  to  them,  be- 
cause speaking  from  God's  spirit  in  his  own  soul. 
When  the  weight  of  sin  has  been  taken  oft'  our  own 
soul  by  the  spirit  of  God,  we  can  take  it  from  the  soul 
of  another.  "  He  who  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things," 
says  the  apostle.  The  Roman  Church,  in  limiting 
this  power  of  forgiving  sin  to  the  priestliood,  changes 
it  from  a  sp'ritual  power  into  an  official  act. 


228  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

The  power  of  absolution  was  not  ascribed  to  the 
priesthood  until  the  time  of  Thomas  Aquinas.  Till 
then  the  formula  commonly  used  by  the  priest  was, 
"  I  pray  God  to  absolve  thee  ; "  afterward  it  became, 
"  I  absolve  thee."  *  The  Scripture  says,  "  ConfesjJ 
your  faults  one  to  anotlier;"f  it  does  not  say,  "Con 
fess  to  the  priest."  In  the  early  church,  confession  of 
sin  was  made  to  the  whole  church,  and  auricular  con- 
fession came  afterward.  Gieseler  says  J  that,  until  the 
twelfth  century,  the  confession  of  private  sins  had  not 
been  considered  an  indispensable  condition  of  forgive 
ness,  and  it  was  allowable  to  confess  to  a  layman.  It 
was  first  made  obligatory  to  confess  to  a  priest,  once 
a  year,  by  the  Lateran  Council,  a.d.  1215. 

No  doubt  there  are  advantages  in  auricular  con- 
fession. It  tends  to  prevent  crime  in  those  who  still 
believe  in  the  necessity  of  confessing,  yet  such  persons 
are  not  those  who  usually  commit  crime.  It  frequently 
causes  atonement,  or  restitution,  to  be  made.  It  enables 
the  priest  to  retain  control  over  the  rude  masses  ;  and 
this  last  is  its  chief  advantage. 

The  Council  of  Trent  declares  that  only  Diortal  sins 


*  Thomas,  Summa  III.,  qu.  84,  art.  3.  "In  quibusdam 
absolutionibus,  absolvens  non  utitur  oratione  itidiciiiva.  Ego 
te  absolvo!  sed  oratione  dej>rccattva,  Misereatur  vestri  om- 
nipotens  Deus !  vel  Absolutionem  tribuat  vobis  Omnipo- 
tens ! " 

t  James  v.  16. 

X  Vol.  ii.  p.  349  (Am.  ed.     Cunningham's  translation). 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  229 

need  to  be  confessed.  But  as  few  Catholics  know  pre- 
cisely the  diflerence  between  mortal  and  venial  sin,  it 
is  deemed  safer  to  confess  every  thing. 

The  evils  of  auricular  confession  are  so  great,  that 
they  outweigh,  by  far,  its  advantages.  It  gives  too 
much  power  to  the  priesthood,  and  maintains  the 
baneful  distinction  between  priest  and  people.  It  is 
used  as  the  means  of  carrying  out  the  arbitrary  pur 
poses  of  the  Roman  Curia.  Thus,  priests  may  be  told 
not  to  give  absolution  to  those  parents  who  send  their 
children  to  Protestant  or  secular  schools. 

One  of  the  worst  evils  of  auricular  confession  is 
the  corruption  of  mind  often  produced  by  the  priest's 
questions.  Thoughts  of  evil,  which  never  before  ex- 
isted in  the  soul,  are  conveyed  there,  unintentionally, 
by  the  confessor.  The  confessor  studies  the  treatises 
put  into  his  hands  in  the  seminary,  in  which  all  sorts 
of  sins  are  minutely  described ;  and  he  is  told  that  it  is 
his  duty  to  find  out  whether  any  of  these  have  been 
committed.  Fancy  an  innocent  girl  questioned  as  to 
every  detail  of  her  private  life  according  to  these 
manuals,  so  full  of  the  filth  gathered  from  the  most 
corrupt  practices  of  the  foulest  times  !  * 

*  In  such  a  manual,  not  published  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
in  186S,  —  not  in  Latin,  but  in  French;  not  in  Mexico,  but  in 
Paris,  —  we  find  all  the  details  of  lasciviousness  carefully  de- 
scribed, ahd  directions  like  the  following  for  the  guidance  of 
the  confessor:  "The  confessor  should  appear,  at  first,  mild 
and  benevolent.  He  must  persuade  the  young  persons  to 
tell  with  simplicity  all  they  know  on  the  point  in  question. 


230  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

According  to  the  Roman  theology,  venial  sins  need 
not  be  confessed,  but   are   atoned   for  by  various  re- 


He  must  not  seem  moved  or  astonished  by  any  thing  he  hears, 
^nd  he  must  not  appear  to  listen  with  much  curiosity  or 
interest:  he  ought,  in  fact,  to  seem  rather  indifterent  to  the 
charges  the  penitents  make  against  themselves.  He  inaj  say 
that  he  has  heard  more  on  such  subjects  than  they  can  tell 
him.  In  putting  questions,  he  must  be  very  careful  to  touch 
this  dangerous  subject  lightly,  and  to  use  much  prudence 
and  reserve,  so  as  not,  by  his  very  questions,  to  teach  the 
penitents  the  evils  which  perhaps  they  are  fortunately  igno- 
rant of." 

"To  detect  bad  habits,  you  must  not  seem  to  doubt  their 
existence.  Do  not  inquire  concerning  the  essential  fact,  but 
concerning  the  accessory  circumstances.  Instead  of  asking 
if  they  have  committed  such  or  such  a  sin,  which  you  fear 
they  are  concealing  from  you,  you  must  make  them  say  how 
many  times  they  have  committed  it.  If  they  hesitate  to  reply, 
name  a  large  number,  far  beyond  wliat  is  likely,  so  as  to 
embolden  them  to  confess  a  smaller  number.  In  general, 
before  they  have  finished  speaking,  begin  to  excuse  them, 
throwing  the  blame  on  their  accomplices,  and  saying  that 
they  probably  would  not  have  committed  such  improper  acts 
if  some  corrupt  companions  had  not  taught  them  how,  against 
their  own  wishes,"  »&c. 

"There  is  another  important  point.  In  speaking  to  females, 
married  or  otherwise,  about  this  class  of  sins,  the  confessor 
should  mention  that  he  has  obtained  his  information  from 
medical  books,  «S:c.  Otherwise  they  may  suspect  the  priest 
of  personal  impurity,  and  such  suspicions  have  been  known 
to  give  rise  to  indecent,  improper,  and  dangerous  suggestions 
on  the  part  of  the  penitents."  —  Mcechialogie :  Trait^  des 
P^chds  contre  les  Sixifeme  et  Neuvieme  Commandements  du 
Di'calogue,  et  de  Toutes  les  Qiicstions  Matrimoniales.  par  le 
P6re  Debreyne.     Qiiatrieme  edition.     Paris  :   1S6S. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  23 1 

ligious  practices,  such  as  repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  use  of  holy  water,  manducation  (that  is,  eating 
bread  which  has  been  blessed),  being  present  at  the 
mass,  listening  with  reverence  to  the  preaching,  re- 
peating the  confession  in  the  service,  giving  alms,  and 
receiving  the  benediction  of  the  priest.  It  will  be 
seen  that  these  are  all  quasi  sacramental  acts,  and  do 
not  include  any  process  of  self-correction. 

It  is,  however,  also  taught  distinctly  by  the  church 
of  Rome,  that,  outside  of  its  communion,  there  is  no 
remission,  either  of  original,  mortal,  or  venial  sin ; 
for  even  to  be  forgiven  venial  sin,  one  must  be  in  a 
state  of  grace. 

The  satisfaction  contained  in  penance  consists  in  the 
performance  of  such  practices  as  may  be  commanded 
by  the  priest  as  a  condition  of  absolution.  In  the 
Catholic  Bible,  Douay  version,  it  is  said  (Matt.  iv.  17  ; 
Luke  xxiv.  47),  "Do  penance,  for  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  at  hand  ; "  "  That  penance  and  remission  of 
sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name."  *  So  also,  in 
Acts  ii.  38,  Peter  says,  "  Do  penance."  The  pen- 
ances enjoined  as  conditions  of  absolution  are  chiefly 
alms-giving,  fasting,  and  prayer. 

Indulgences  mean  (i)  the  substitution  of  something 


*  The  Holy  Bible,  translated  from  the  Latin  Vulgate;  the 
Old  Testament  first  published  by  the  English  College  at 
Douay,  a.d.  1609;  and  the  New  Testament  first  published 
by  the  English  College  at  Rheims,  a.d.  1582. 


232  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

else  in  the  place  of  penance  ;  and  (3)  the  removal  of 
temporal  punishments  in  this  life  or  the  next.  For, 
according  to  the  Roman-Catholic  doctrine,  all  sins  in- 
cur a  double  penalty,  eternal  and  temporal.  Eternal 
punishment  is  separation  from  God,  and  loss  of  the 
beatific  vision.  This  is  removed  by  the  atonement  of 
Christ ;  and  his  atonement  is  received  by  penitence 
and  faith,  through  baptism.  But" the  temporal  conse- 
quences of  sin  remain,  and  are  to  be  endured  in  this 
world,  and  the  other.  Temporal  punishment  in  the 
other  world  is  purgatory.  The  church  claims  the 
power  of  remitting  this  by  indulgences.  But,  down 
to  the  time  of  St.  Thomas,  opinions  differed  in  the 
church  as  to  their  value.  Much  opposition  existed 
against  selling  indulgences  for  money ;  but  this  was 
too  profitable  to  be  given  up.  Sextus  VI.,  in  1477? 
first  applied  indulgences  to  the  relief  of  souls  in  pur- 
gatory ;  before  him,  it  had  been  confined  to  church 
punishments  in  the  present  life.*  Much  objection  was 
made  to  this  doctrine  by  Catholic  theologians.  One 
argument  being,  that  if  the  pope  possessed  this  powei, 
he  ought  at  once  to  relieve  all  souls  from  purgatory. 
At  present,  however,  indulgences  are  given  on  various 
gi'ounds.  In  1S60,  the  present  pope  offered  an  in- 
dulgence of  one  hundred  years  to  every  one  who  would 
fight    against    Victor    Emanuel.       In     some    Italian 


•  Hase,  Handbiich  der  Protestantischen  Polemik.    Gieseler, 
2 ;  cccxxv. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  233 

churches  you  see  the  notice:  "Every  mass  per- 
formed in  tiiis  chuixh  delivers  a  soul  from  purgatory." 
In  the  church  of  S.  Pudienza  at  Rome,  it  is  declared, 
"  Every  person  visiting  this  church  obtains  for  every 
day  an  indulgence  of  three  thousand  years."  In  the 
church  of  S.  Lorenzo  before  the  Walls,  "  Forgiveness 
of  all  sins  "  is  offered  to  every  one  worshipping  therein. 
It  is  one  of  the  impenetrable  mysteries  of  Roman- 
Catholic  belief,  that  a  man  should  take  the  trouble  of 
going  to  one  church  for  the  pitiful  indulgence  of  three 
thousand  years,  vv^hen  by  visiting  another  he  can  ob- 
tain remission  for  all  his  sins.  Perrone,  the  modern 
Roman-Catholic  controversialist,  exultingly  declares 
that  scarcely  any  one  can  be  found  so  destitute  of 
the  means  of  grace  as  not  to  be  able  to  obtain  an 
indulgence  somehow. 

The  sacraments  of  the  church  are  indeed  admirably 
adapted  to  all  parts  of  human  life.  The  infant  en- 
ters the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  baptism.  The  youth 
receives  new  grace  by  confirmation.  The  sacrament 
of  penance  removes  the  effect  of  mortal  sins,  and 
places  one  again  in  a  state  of  grace.  The  sacra- 
ment of  orders  gives  the  priest  the  power  of  ap- 
plying the  other  sacraments.  The  sacrament  of  the 
eucharist,  or  mass,  brings  God  visibly  before  the  eyes 
of  the  congregation.  In  it  the  God-Man  is  sacrificed 
anew,  day  by  day,  for  human  sin.  The  faithful  who 
partake  of  it,  receive  new  life  in  their  souls,  by  feeding 
on  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.   Matrimony  is  elevated 


234  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

to  a  sacrament,  and  made  indissoluble.  Its  essence, 
however,  consists,  according  to  the  Roman  Catholics, 
in  the  consent  of  the  two  parties,  and  the  presence  ot" 
a  priest.  If,  therefore,  two  young  people,  to  whose 
marriage  the  parents  refuse  their  consent,  and  whom 
tlie  priest  refuses  to  marry,  lie  in  wait  for  him  in  his 
walk,  and  spring  out  from  the  trees  and  say,  "•  We  take 
each  other   in   marriage,"  this  is   a  legitimate   union. 

No  Catholic  marriage  can  be  dissolved ;  but  the 
church  may  declare  that  if  certain  impediments  existed, 
it  never  really  was  a  marriage,  which  comes  to  very 
much  the  same  thing.  Fifteen  such  impediments  are 
mentioned  by  Romish  theologians  ;  such  as  a  mistake 
as  to  the  person  intended,  a  vow  of  celibacy,  affinity, 
compulsion,  dilicrence  of  worship. 

Extreme  unction  is  founded  on  the  saying  of  James, 
"  If  any  among  you  be  sick,  call  the  ciders  of  the 
church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him 
with  oil  in  the  name  of  Christ ;  and  the  prayer  of  faith 
shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up." 
But  this  can  hardly  apply  to  the  Roman-Catholic  sacra- 
ment of  extreme  unction,  which  is  only  given  to  dying 
persons,  and  with  no  expectation  of  curing  them. 

The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  teaches  that  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  when  the  priest  utters  the  words, 
"  This  is  my  body,  and  this  is  my  blood,"  the  bread 
and  wine  are  changed,  as  to  their  substance,  into  the 
body  and  blood,  soul  and  spirit,  of  Christ ;  wliile  their 
accidents  remain  the  same  as  befox'e.     This  doctrine  is 


FROM    ROiMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  235 

based  on  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  in  which  every 
thing  is  either  substance  or  accident.  Accidents  are 
ail  that  can  be  perceived  by  the  senses,  as  color,  shape, 
weight,  perfume,  flavor,  &c.,  —  in  short,  all  outward 
phenomena.  Substance  is  that  which  stands  under 
them,  and  supports  them  ;  that  in  which  these  qual- 
ities inhere. 

By  means  of  this  doctrine,  a  mysterious  influence  is 
no  doubt  conveyed  to  the  believers,  which  touches  the 
imagination,  and  produces  awe. 

But  the  evil  is,  that,  like  other  sacraments,  it  becomes 
a  charm.  Over  some  altars  it  is  written,  "  Every  mass 
performed  at  this  altar  delivers  a  soul  from  purgatory." 
The  inass  works  its  effect  whether  any  are  present 
to  receive  an  influence  or  not ;  consequently  masses 
are  often  offered  when  no  one  is  present,  or  only  a  few. 

No  doubt  good  is  done  by  the  sacraments.  A  good 
priest  puts  his  soul  and  heart  into  them,  and  so  they 
become  full  of  soul  and- heart.  There  is  also  some- 
thing touching  and  tender  in  the  thought  of  the  church 
walking  with  its  children  through  life,  reaching  its 
hand  to  them  all  the  way  ;  taking  the  infont,  and  bap- 
tizing it  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  calling  together 
the  young,  and  in  their  white  confirmation  robes  lead- 
ing them  up  to  become  the  servants  of  Christ;  reliev- 
ing the  sense  of  sin  by  hearing  its  confession,  and  ab- 
solving the  penitent ;  bringing  down  God  into  the 
churcli  day  by  day  in  the  awful  mystery  of  the  tre- 
mendous eucharist ;   making  a  sacred  body  apart  from 


236  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  world,  in  its  priesthood,  standing  separate  from 
life,  outside  of  the  world,  to  move  it,  not  to  be  moved 
by  it ;  sanctifying  the  joy  of  marriage  with  a  holier 
bliss  ;  and  touching  the  brow  of  the  dying  with  a  pass- 
port into  eternal  rest.  As  an  ideal,  it  is  all  very 
graceful  and  pleasant.  But  is  it  true?  Does  it  on 
the  whole  do  good?  These  are  the  questions  ulti- 
mately to  be  asked  of  all  human  institutions. 

Is  this  sacramental  system  true  Christianity?  Did 
Jesus  teach  any  such  system?  Is  there  any  thing  like 
it  in  the  New  Testament?  Where,  in  the  four  Gospels, 
do  we  find  the  priesthood,  the  system  of  confession 
and  absolution,  the  doctrine  of  grace  given  thi'ough 
external  acts  and  ceremonies  ?  Is  not  this  a  revival  of 
that  temple  worship  and  those  ritual  observances  which 
Jesus  himself  opjDOsed  most  strongly?  Would  any 
one,  in  reading  the  four  Gospels,  imagine  that  Christ 
ever  meant  to  establish  such  a  ritual  system  as  this? 
This  is  the  real  difficulty  with  Romanism.  It  is  not 
by  a  few  texts,  taken  here  and  there,  that  we  can 
decide  the  point ;  but  by  seeing  if  the  general  teacliing 
of  Jesus  inculcated  that  by  belonging  to  a  church  and 
partaking  of  its  sacraments  men  were  to  be  saved.  On 
the  contrary,  he  taught  continually,  that  we  are  saved 
by  our  faith  in  God,  our  love  to  man,  our  fidelity  in 
duty,  our  willingness  to  follow  him  in  his  piety  and 
humanity.  The  sormon  on  the  mount  and  the  parables 
have  not  a  word  about  sacraments  in  them.  All  there 
is  faith,  hope,  love,  and  obedience. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  237 

The  Protestant  Church,  following  the  Apostle  Paul, 
says  we  are  justified  by  faith,  and  not  by  ceremonial 
or  sacramental  works.  Christianity  does  not  consist 
in  assisting  at  the  mass,  or  in  confessing  to  the  priest, 
but  in  trusting  in  God  and  his  love ;  in  having  faith  in 
that  divine  pity  which  came  to  us  eminently  in  Christ. 
It  is  a  state  of  the  heart,  not  the  performance  of  cere- 
monies. To  be  justified  by  foith  does  not  mean  that 
we  are  saved  by  believing  this  or  that  opinion  ;  but 
that  we  are  saved  by  confidence  in  God's  love,  and  by 
having  a  childlike  reliance  on  his  fatherly  goodness. 
If  you  wish  to  have  your  son  safe  amid  the  temptations 
of  life,  teach  him  to  confide  in  you  ;  make  him  vmder- 
stand  that  he  can  always  come  to  you  in  his  difficul- 
ties ;  that  he  can  find  no  better  friend  than  his  father 
and  mother.  As  long  as  you  retain  his  confidence,  he 
is  safe.  As  long  as  he  tells  you  every  thing,  he  is  in 
no  danger.  And  so  God  wishes  us  to  tell  him  every 
thing,  to  bring  all  our  troubles  to  him,  and  feel  that  he 
is  the  best  friend  we  have.  M.  Renan,  in  his  Life  of 
Paul,  says  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  : 

"This  doctrine  of  Paul,  opposed  apparently  to  common 
sense,  has  been  really  salutary  and  conducive  to  human  free- 
dom. It  has  separated  Christianity  from  Judaism,  and  Protes- 
tantism from  Catholicism.  There  is  a  twofold  evil  in  the  behef 
that  the  performance  of  religious  actions  procures  forgiveness 
and  salvation.  First,  it  destroys  morality  by  persuading  die 
devotee  that  he  can  enter  heaven  in  spite  of  God.  The  most 
hard-hearted  Jews,  and  the  most  seliish  and  cruel  usurers, 


238  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

have  imagined  that  by  carefully  keeping  the  ceremonial  law 
they  would  compel  God  to  save  them.  The  Catholic,  in  the 
time  of  Louis  XI.,, fancied  he  could  defend  himself  against 
the  Almighty  as  by  the  technicalities  of  a  legal  process  ;  and 
that,  assisted  by  a  sufficient  number  of  masses,  any  scoundrel 
most  odious  to  the  Deity  could,  according  to  the  most  regular 
methods,  enter  heaven,  and  force  God  to  receive  him  into  his 
society.  To  this  impiety,  to  which  Judaism  had  been  brought 
by  Talmudism,  and  to  which  Christianity  has  been  brought 
by  Mediaeval  Catholicism,  Paul  has  applied  the  most  vigorous 
remedy,  declaring  that  man  is  not  justified  by  any  works  of 
the  law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  why  this 
doctrine,  apparently  so  illiberal,  has  been  the  text  of  all 
reformers,  the  lever  by  which  Wickliff",  Huss,  Luther,  Calvin, 
and  St.  Cyran  have  resisted  the  old  traditions  of  routine,  of 
idle  trust  in  a  priest,  and  in  a  kind  of  external  goodness,  quite 
independent  of  any  change  of  heart. 

"The  other  objection  to  these  outside  observances  is  that 
they  create  incessant  scruples.  Being  considered  to  have  a 
value  in  themselves,  £x  opere  opcrato,  apart  from  the  state 
of  mind  of  him  who  performs  them,  they  open  the  way  to 
all  the  subtilties  of  a  minute  casuistry.  The  legal  work  be- 
comes a  receipt,  the  success  of  which  depends  on  its  precise 
and  exact  performance.  In  this  point,  also,  the  Talmud  and 
Catholicism  have  come  upon  common  ground." 

The  essential  doctrinal  antagonism  of  Romanism  and 
Protestantism  has  its  root  in  the  answer  to  this  question  : 
"Arc  we  saved  hy  faith  or  by  sacraments.'"'  The 
other  doctrines  of  theology,  such  as  the  deity  of  Christ, 
the  trinity,  total  depravity,  the  atonement,  are  not 
peculiar  to  Romanism  or  Protestantism,  but  were  in- 
herited by  both,  from  tlie  church  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  early  Greek  Church   invented   the  doctrine  of  the 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  239 

trinity.  The  Latin  Cliurch  aftei'ward  developed  that 
of  total  depravity  and  the  atonement. 

But  there  is  no  doubt,  if  we  are  to  take  Christianity 
from  tlic  teacliing  of  Jesus  and  Paul,  that  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  sacraments  is  false.  It  is  not  by  cere- 
monies any  more  than  by  creeds  that  the  soul  of  man 
is  made  true  and  pure.  And  yet  let  us  admit  the  good 
that  has  been  done  by  pious  and  devoted  men  w^ho 
have  believed  in  this  sacramental  salvation.  It  has 
been  daily  bread  for  the  souls  of  thousands  in  every 
age  ;  it  has  tended  to  open  a  way  for  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  to  enter  the  mind  and  heart.  "  Every  priest," 
says  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  standeth  daily  minis- 
tering, and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices 
which  can  never  take  away  sins  ; "  nevertlieless,  he 
may  often  make  men  better  and  happier  by  his  labors. 

In  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  Vatican  there  hang 
ojDposite  to  each  other  two  pictures,  which  are  consid- 
ered by  many  to  be  the  two  finest  paintings  from  the 
hand  of  man.  One  is  the  Communion  of  St.  Jerome, 
by  Domenichino.  The  saint,  old,  decrepit,  at  the  point 
of  death,  is  receiving  the  sacramental  wafer,  with  an 
exj^ression  of  rapture  on  his  face,  —  a  rapture  of  rev- 
erence, gratitude,  and  love.  This  is  the  apotheosis 
of  sacramental  religion.  On  the  opposite  wall  is  the 
Transfiguration  of  Jesus,  by  Rafiielle.  Jesus,  with 
Moses  and  Elijah  on  either  hand,  floats  in  the  air, 
lifted  above  earth  by  the  power  of  this  great  commun- 
ion of  mind  and  heart.     The  faith  in  things  unseen, 


240  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

which  can  remove  mountains,  had  removed  the  veil 
between  time  and  eternity,  and  brought  the  three  great 
prophets  face  to  face.  This  is  the  rehgion  of  the 
spirit,  —  not  of  form,  nor  of  the  letter,  but  of  faith, 
hope,  and  love ! 

It  is  fiir  higher  than  the  other.  The  covenant  of 
works  comes  to  an  end.  Ceremonies  will  cease.  Pen- 
ances will  be  abolished.  The  outward  sacraments  of 
water,  bread,  and  wine  will  at  last  be  no  longer  needed. 
But  the  religion  of  faith,  hope,  and  love,  uniting  us  to 
God,  and  to  man,  will  always  remain.  These  three 
abide  for  ever.  This  is  what  transfigures  time,  and 
this  is  what  opens  the  way  into  eternity. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Priesthood    and    Ritual    of   the    Roman-Catholic 
Church. 

A  CCORDING  to  the  Roman-Catholic  doctrine, 
•^  -^  the  clergy  is  a  body  instituted  by  Christ,  and  in- 
heriting special  grace  from  him,  in  an  unbroken  line 
of  descent.  It  alone  possesses  the  power  of  the  sac- 
raments and  the  government  of  the  church.  Through 
the  medium  of  the  clergy  alone  does  Christ  commu- 
nicate with  the  people.  They  alone  have  the  power 
of  opening  or  closing  the  gates  of  heaven.  This 
hierarchy,  which  consists  of  bishops,  priests,  and  dea- 
cons, is  instituted  by  God.*  The  special  work  of  a 
priest  is  to  offer  sacrifice.  The  eucharist  is  the  sac- 
rifice in  the  New  Testament  corresponding  to  the 
Jewish  sacrifices  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  Ro- 
man-Catholic priest  therefore  is  the  fulfilment,  on  a 
higher  plane,  of  the  Jewish  priesthood. 

*  "Si  quis  dixerit  in  EcclesiA  Catholica  non  esse  hierar- 
chiam  divina  ordinatione  institutam,  quae  constat  ex  episcopis, 
presbjteris,  et  ministiis,  anathema  sit."  ^Sjnod  of  Trent, 
Sess.  xxiii.  canon  6.) 

i6 


242  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

Tlic  Protestant  Church  does  not  consider  its  clergy 
as  priests,  but  as  ministers  of  the  word.  Their  work 
is  not  to  ofler  sacrifice,  but  to  preach  the  gospel.  They 
aie  successors,  not  of  the  Jewish  priest,  but  of  the 
Jewish  prophet.  This  is  the  radical  distinction  be- 
tween the  clergy  in  the  two  churches.  The  one  stands 
at  an  altar ;  the  other,  in  a  pulpit.  One  receives  his 
authority  from  the  priesthood  by  ordination  ;  the  other, 
from  the  people  by  election.  The  Protestant  minister 
is  one  of  the  people  :  he  is  no  more  a  priest  than  the 
rest.  He  is  on  a  level  with  his  brethren.  But  the 
Roman-Catholic  idea  was  expressed  by  Lainez,  Gen- 
eral of  the  Jesuits,  in  his  famous  speech  at  the  Council 
of  Trent.  He  declared  that  the  people  were  like  sheep, 
and  the  priest  was  their  shepherd.  "  Sheep,"  said  he, 
"  are  beasts  without  reason ;  and  therefore  ought  not 
to  take  any  part  in  the  government  of  the  church. 
That  belongs  to  the  priesthood  alone."  * 

But  though  Catholics  have  sometimes  said,  in  an 
extravagant  way,  that  the  worst  priest  was  better  than 
the  most  pious  layman,  yet  this  idea  has  never  been 
thoroughly  carried  out  in  tlie  church.  One  of  the 
sacraments,  that  of  marriage,  is  performed  not  by 
the  priest,  but  by  tlie  parties  themselves,  in  the  j^riest's 
presence.  For  the  Roman  Catholics  have  the  true 
idea  of  marriage,  as  consisting  essentially  in  the  consent 
of  the  man  and  woman.     Most  of  the  sacraments,  ht 

*  Sarpi, — quoted  by  Ilase,  p.  110. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  343 

cases  of  necessity,  can  be  administered  by  laymen. 
Laymen  can  baptize,  and  theii"  baptism  is  valid.  In 
the  Middle  Ages,  knights  confessed  each  other,  and 
gave  absolution  to  their  dying  comrades.  Monasticism 
itself  is  a  kind  of  included  Protestantism.  For  why  do 
men  and  women  go  into  convents  to  save  their  souls  by 
penance  and  prayer,  if  they  are  satisfied  with  the  sal- 
vation which  comes  from  sacraments?  The}*  go  to 
find  a  higher  religion  than  the  priest  can  give,  in 
direct  communion  with  God  himself. 

One  objection  to  the  Roman-Catholic  idea  of  tlie 
priesthood  is,  that  it  is  opposed  to  Christian  equality 
and  Christian  brotherhood.  It  introduces  into  the 
church  a  caste,  like  that  of  the  Brahmins  in  India. 
Christians  are  not  all  brethren  in  this  system  ;  but  the 
laity  are  brethren,  and  the  priests  are  fathers.  Con- 
sequently a  Roman-Catholic  priest  is  usually  called 
father;  though  Jesus  has  said,  "  Call  no  man  father 
on  earth,  for  one  is  your  Father  in  heaven,  and  all  ye 
are  brethren."  Accordingly  Martin  Luther  declared 
that  all  Christians  were  priests,  and  that  there  was  no 
real  distinction  between  clergy  and  laity.  "  Whoever 
has  received  Christian  baptism,"  said  he,  "  is  priest, 
bishop,  and  pope.  Two  or  three  laymen,  meeting 
together  in  the  name  of  Christ,  make  a  church  ;  they 
can  baptize,  administer  the  sacrament,  preach,  and 
absolve  each  other's  sins." 

This  was  certainly  the  original  idea  in  Christianity. 
God  was  to  •'  pour  out  his  Spirit  on  all  flesh  ;  "  "  On 


244  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

my  servants,  and  on  my  hand-maidens,  I  will  pour  out 
of  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord,  and  the}'  shall  prophesy  ; " 
"  I  will  write  the  law  in  their  hearts,  and  ye  shall  no 
more  need  to  teach  each  other,  saying.  Know  the 
Lord,  for  all  shall  know  me,  from  the  least  of  3-ou  to 
the  greatest  of  you ; "  *■'  The  anointing  [or  chris- 
tening] whicli  you  have  received  remains  in  you,  and 
ye  do  not  need  that  any  shall  teach  you."  *  Peter, 
the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  called  all  Christians 
"  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  priesthood."!  Iienaeus 
wrote,  "  All  the  good  belong  to  the  priesthood."  J 
Tertullian  said,  "  Are  not  all  the  laity  priests  ?  Where 
three  of  them  meet  in  Christ's  name,  there  is  a 
church."  §  Consistent  and  logical  Protestants  there- 
fore ought  to  admit  that  the  laity,  both  men  and 
women,  have  full  power  to  preach  and  pray  in  public, 
and  to  administer  the  sacraments  of  baptism,  and  the 
Lord's  Supper.  If  some  men  are  set  apart  for  this,  it 
is  for  convenience,  and  on  the  principle  of  division  of 
labor.  In  the  Congregational  Church  this  principle  of 
equality  is  more  fully  asserted  than  in  any  other  except 
by  the  "  Friends."  In  the  Cambridge  platform,  it  is 
said  tliat  there  may  be  a  church  where  there  is  no  min- 
ister, and  that  a  man  ceases  to  be  a  clergyman  when  he 
ceases  to  be  the  minister  of  a  church  ;  that  he  becomes 
a  layman  the  moment  that  he  loses  his  office  as  pastor 


*  I  John  ii.  27.  t  I  Peter  ii.  9. 

X  iv.  20  §  Exhort.  Cast.  c.  7. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  245 

of  a  church  ;  and  becomes  a  clergyman  again,  when 
he  is  elected  pastor  of  another  church.  This  is  the 
true  Protestant  idea,  thoroughly  carried  out. 

According  to  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Church,  the 
priest  must  be  unmarried.  To  become  a  pi^iest  is  to 
take  a  vow  of  celibacy  for  life.  This,  however,  is  not 
a  matter  of  faith,  but  of  discipline ;  and  the  Roman- 
Catholic  Church  might,  at  any  time,  allow  its  priests 
to  marry.  This  is  a  reform  loudly  demanded  by  many 
in  the  church  itself,  and  will,  probably,  be  the  first 
step  taken  in  a  new  church  reformation.  If  the  Ecu- 
menical Council,  by  its  decrees,  puts  the  church  in 
opposition  to  the  temporal  governments  of  Europe, 
and  also  in  opposition  to  modern  science  and  all  free 
thought,  the  result  may  be  that  one  or  more  Catholic 
nations  will  separate  from  its  communion,  and  be- 
come national  churches.  They  will  probably  not 
become  Protestants,  but  will  retain  the  Catholic  ritual 
and  ceremonies.  But,  in  such  a  case,  they  will  imme- 
diately allow  the  priests  to  marry,  as  in  the  Greek 
Church.  For  though  Paul  thought  it  more  con- 
venient not  to  marry,  and  praised  celibacy,  yet,  in 
the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  he  called  "  forbidding  to 
marry"  a  "doctrine  of  devils,"  and  told  Titus  thi't 
a  bishop  ought  to  be  the  husband  of  one  wife.  And 
there  is  something  almost  pathetic  in  the  fact  that  the 
Apostle  Peter,  the  head  of  that  church  which  has 
made  celibacy  the  law  of  its  priesthood,  should  have 
had  a  mother-in-law^  and  should  have  been  said  by 


24*^  STKPS    OP"    BELIEF. 

Paul  to  carry  his  wife  about  with  him  on  his  mission- 
ary journeys.  One  would  not  like  to  hurt  the  feelings 
of  a  good  Roman  Catholic  by  reading  the  text  about 
Peter's  wife's  mother  being  sick  of  a  fever. 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  an  unmarried  priesthood 
are,  that  they  can  give  their  whole  time  to  the  minis- 
try, not  having  to  care  for  wife  and  children  ;  thai 
they  are  more  ready  to  encounter  dangers,  and  gi> 
on  missions  ;  they  are  not  made  anxious  by  dread  of 
poverty ;  and  they  are  more  reverenced  by  having  no 
bride  but  the  church,  no  children  but  their  parish- 
ioners. All  these  may  be  very  good  reasons  why  young 
clergymen  should  not  be  immediately  married,  and 
why  some  should  not  marry  at  all.  But  it  is  no 
reason  for  forbidding  all  to  marry  bv  an  inflexible 
law.  Riding  by  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  I 
once  invited  into  the  carriage  a  priest,  whom  we 
overtook  walking,  and  we  discussed  this  question 
together  in  very  bad  French.  He  said,  "  How  can 
you  Protestant  ministers  attend  to  your  duties,  and 
visit  your  parishioners,  when  your  wife  or  children 
are  sick,  and  you  have  to  stay  at  home  and  nurse 
them?"  To  which  I  replied,  that  not  having  the  ex 
perience  of  a  married  man,  and  living  a  solitary  lite, 
he  could  not  enter  into  the  feelings  of  his  parishioners, 
but  was  placed  apart  from  them.  "  A  good  wife," 
said  I,  "  makes  a  man  stronger  to  do  all  his  duties, 
and  puts  twice  as  much  judgment  and  force  into  hiin 
for  his  work.     It  is  not  good  for  the  man  to  be  alone. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  247 

He  may  have  less  care  and  more  time  when  he  is  not 
married  ;  but  he  has  not  so  much  heart,  nov  so  much 
power  for  his  work." 

All  the  Roman  clergy  are  divided  into  two  classes, 
—  regulars  and  seculars.  Tlie  secular  clergy  are  the 
bishops  and  parish  priests.  The  regulars  are  the 
members  of  monastic  institutions,  —  monks  and  friars. 
All  the  orders  of  monks  take  the  three  vows  of  pov- 
erty, chastity,  and  obedience. 

There  seems  to  be  something  natural  to  man  in  this 
monastic  system.  It  is  found  in  all  religions.  The 
Jews  had  their  monks  in  the  Essenes  and  Therapeutte  : 
the  Mohammedans,  Brahmins,  and  Buddhists  have 
their  anchorites,  living  either  alone  or  in  cloisters; 
and  here,  in  America,  we  have  our  Protestant  monks 
and  nuns  in  the  Shakers.  The  Buddhist  monks  live 
in  great  monasteries,  and  take  the  same  three  vows  as 
the  Roman  Catholics.  They  arc  all  mendicants,  going 
out  every  day  to  get  their  food.  They  pray  with  a 
rosary,  counting  their  beads,  like  the  Catholics. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  cloister  has  brought  con- 
solation and  peace  to  many  a  poor  soul,  who  has  not 
strength  for  the  battle  of  life.  The  community  princi- 
ple, in  the  cloister-life,  is  a  good  one.  It  is  to  be  wished 
that  we  had  Pi-otestant  communities,  to  which  lonely 
and  weary  men  and  women  could  go,  and  find  friendship 
and  relief  from  perpetual  anxiety.  The  struggle  of 
life  is  so  fierce  among  us,  competition  is  so  active, 
that  thousands  find  it  hard  to  live,  even  by  working 


Z^8  STEPS    OF    BliLIEF. 

all  the  time.  Now  if  there  were  Christian  communities 
well  arranged,  where  by  tlie  economics  of  combined 
households,  and  by  thorough  organization,  they  could 
have  comfort  and  rest  for  a  fair  day's  work,  it  would 
no  doubt  be  a  blessing.  Such  communities  as  the 
Shakers,  and  that  of  Rapp,  show  that  this  is  perfectly 
feasible.  They  all  have  a  pecuniary  success.  And  so 
it  was  with  the  monasteries  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
They  gradually  absorbed  into  themselves  a  large  part 
of  the  wealth  of  many  countries,  and  were  suppressed 
for  this  reason,  and  their  property  confiscated  by  the 
governments  of  Catholic  nations.  In  the  Middle  Ages, 
they  did  great  good.  They  were  the  refuge  of  the 
oppressed,  the  last  reti'eat  of  learning ;  they  became 
teachers  of  youth,  and  the  civilizers  of  the  community. 
But  they  were  very  apt  to  run  the  course  of  other 
institutions.  At  first,  founded  by  good  men  for  good 
purposes,  they  were  useful  and  pure.  Their  virtues 
gave  them  influence,  power,  and  wealth.  Then  power 
and  wealth  corrupted  them,  and  they  became  indolent, 
luxurious,  vicious.  Then  tliey  grew  odious,  and  were 
abolished ;  and  others,  better  and  purer,  took  their 
place. 

No  one  can  be  present  at  a  function  of  the  Roman- 
Catholic  Church  on  a  great  festival,  and  in  a  mag- 
nificent cathedral,  without  feeling  the  impressive  nature 
of  the  ceremony.  The  grand  architecture  and  the 
splendid  music  ;  the  processions  of  priests  in  their  gor- 
geous robes  and  vestments  ;  the  mysterious  ceremonies 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  249 

at  the  high  altar,  genuflexions,  the  smoke  of  incense, 
swinging  of  censers,  elevation  of  the  host,  ringing  of 
bells,  —  all  is  calculated  to  touch  the  imagination,  like  a 
solemn  tragedy.  There  is  something  essentially  dra- 
matic in  the  whole  ritual,  and  most  people  love  the 
drama.  The  worship  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Catholic 
Church  also  touches  a  cord  in  the  human  heart.  When 
God  is  represented  as  clothed  in  terror,  an  awful  mon- 
arch ;  when  Christ  is  revered  as  the  Judge  whose  chief 
attribute  is  justice  :  then  comes  the  Virgin  Mary,  com- 
bining all  the  sweetest  traits  of  tender  womanhood. 
She  has  the  purity  of  the  girl,  and  the  devoted  kind 
ness  of  the  mother.  She  is  the  friend  of  the  sinners ; 
she  takes  them  all  as  she  finds  them  ;  she  never  chides, 
finds  fault,  or  condemns ;  her  only  work  is  to  save. 
And  then  she  has  such  power  in  heaven,  as  the  Mother 
of  God,  that  she  can  save  us.  All  who  put  themselves 
under  her  protection  are  safe.  Mary,  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  is  a  creation  of  the  human  heart,  which  had 
been  defrauded  of  its  heavenly  Father  by  fierce  and 
terrific  doctrines.  They  took  away  the  love  of  God, 
they  took  away  the  blessed  grace  of  Jesus ;  and  so 
the  poor  empty  heart  turned  to  Mary,  put  her  in 
heaven,  and  then  took  her  for  its  God,  its  Christ,  its 
Saviour.  It  can  come  nearer  to  her  than  to  the  Trinity  : 
she  is  more  human.  All  sweet  and  great  names  there- 
fore are  given  to  her  in  the  prayers  of  the  Catholic. 
She  is  "Mother  of  God,"  "  Star  of  the  Sea,"  "  Spouse 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  "  Door  of  Heaven,"  "  Qiieen  of 


250  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  Angels,"  "  Rose  among  thorns,"  "  Ocean  of  love." 
And  yet  I  sometimes  wonder  what  the  real  Mary  in 
heaven  thinks  of  all  this  ;  and  how  her  modesty  must 
be  pained  by  this  great  wave  of  worship,  coming  up 
to  her  from  earth  every  day,  —  she  who  was  only  a 
sweet,  pure  woman.  It  seems  too  hard  that  she  should 
have  to  hear  it  all,  and  be  made  unhappy  by  being 
thus  an  object  of  worship  which  so  often  takes  the 
heart  of  the  devotee  from  God,  and  from  Christ.  Think 
how  very  sadly  any  good  woman  would  feel  at  finding 
herself  in  heaven  made  the  object  of  worship.  I  think 
Mary  is  really  much  to  be  pitied. 

Jesus  has  told  us  not  to  use  "  vain  repetitions  in  our 
prayers  as  the  heathen  do,  who  think  they  shall  be 
heard  for  their  much  speaking,"  and  gives  us  his 
own  prayer  as  an  example  of  what  is  short  but  com- 
prehensive. And  then  the  Catholic  makes  a  rosary, 
in  which  he  repeats  the  Ave  Maria  oue  hundred  and 
fifty  times,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  ten  times.  The 
Catholic  jDrayer-book  tells  us  that  this  rosary  "  was 
composed  in  heaven,  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
delivered  to  the  faithful  by  the  Angel  Gabriel,  Saint 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Church  of  Christ."  *  The  same 
book,  published  by  authority  of  the  bishops  of  the 
church,  has  litanies  to  many  diirerent  saints,  as  Saint 
Joseph,  Saint  Teresa,  Saint  Bernard,  Saint  Philo- 
mena,  and  —  what  seems  very  curious,  —  one  "To  the 

*  Saint  Vincent's  Manual,  p.  428. 


FROM    KOMANISM   TO    PROTESTANTISM.  25 1 

rnfunt  Jesus,"  and  another  to  the  "  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment." Do  the  CathoHcs  beheve  that  there  is  an 
infant  Jesus  now  in  heaven.?  Is  Christ  an  infant  now? 
And  if  not,  how  can  they  pray  to  a  being  who  does 
not  exist.?  This  litany  addresses  the  infont  Jesus  eighty- 
nine  times.  It  says,  for  example,  "  Infant,  crying  in 
the  crib,  have  mercy  on  us ; "  "  Infant,  equal  to  thy 
Father  ;  "  "  Infant,  subject  to  thy  mother  ;"  "  Infant,  in 
want  of  food;"  "Infant,  dwelling  in  heaven,  "  &c., 
"  have  mere}'  on  us."  All  these  eighty-nine  prayers 
are  addressed  to  an  infant  who  does  not  exist ;  for 
certainly  Christ  is  not  an  infant  now. 

The  litany  of  the  blessed  sacrament  has  a  great 
number  of  petitions  addressed  to  the  eucharist,  asking 
it  to  have  mercy.  It  says,  "  O  wheat  of  the  elect;" 
"  O  wine  which  makest  virgins  ;  "  "  O  supersubstantial 
bread,"  "  Chalice  of  benediction,"  "  Heavenly  anti- 
dote," &c.,  "  have  mercy  on  us."  It  is  true  that, 
according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Claurch,  the 
bread  and  wine  are  changed,  as  to  their  substance, 
into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  It  is  true  that  he 
means  to  worship,  not  the  bread  and  wine,  but  the 
God  manifested  by  them.  But  what  the  worshipper 
adores,  in  this  prayer,  is  not  this  substance  which  is 
invisible,  but  the  accidents,  the  outward  phenomena, 
which  are  not  changed.  When  he  says,  "  O  wheat ! 
O  wine  !  O  bread !  O  chalice  !  "  he  is  adoring  the 
visible  form  under  which  God  is  supposed  to  be 
present.     And  just  so  the  Athenian,  who  worshipped 


352  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  statue  of  the  Phidian  Jupiter,  intended  to  worship 
not  the  marble,  but  the  God  manifested  by  the  statue. 
He  did  not  mean  to  worship  stone  and  gold  and  ivory. 
If  the  one  was  idolatry,  the  other  is  idolatry.  So  when 
the  Catholic  adores  the  crucifix,  or  pictures,  he  means 
to  have  his  mind  ascend  through  these  to  God.  But 
that  is  just  what  an  intelligent  Hindoo  will  tell  you 
about  his  images  of  Vischnu  and  Siva.  The  danger 
is  that  the  ignorant  and  unspiritual  will,  in  both  cases, 
make  a  fetich  of  the  idol,  the  picture,  the  cross,  the 
wafer,  and  worship  the  visible  part,  letting  his  de- 
votion stop  there. 

The  church  of  Rome  has  often  committed  the  fault 
of  letting  itself  down  to  the  level  of  the  ignorant  wor- 
shipper, instead  of  lifting  him  up  to  hers.  The  motive 
was  good,  the  spirit  amiable.  She  wished,  like  Paul, 
to  become  all  things  to  all  men,  in  order  to  save  them. 
Only  she  carried  it  too  far ;  and  instead  of  raising 
them,  she  was  sometimes  drawn  down  herself.  To 
meet  the  tastes  and  wishes  of  the  Pagans,  the  early 
church  allowed  a  great  deal  of  Paganism  to  enter  into 
Christianity.  The  Pagans  worshipped  deified  men, 
and  each  had  his  favorite  saint  to  whom  he  prayed. 
The  Roman  sailors  worshipped  Venus,  and  called  her 
"  Star  of  the  sea,"  and  "  Qiieen  of  heaven,"  The 
Pagans  had  sacred  images,  fallen  from  heaven.  So 
have  the  Catholics.  The  Pagans  adorned  their  im- 
ages with  flowers,  knelt  to  them,  oflcrcd  incense  to 
them,   carried   them    in   processions,    and    made   pil- 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  253 

grimages  to  them.  So  do  the  Catholics.  The  Pagans 
,  had  statues  which  winked  and  nodded.  So  have  the 
Catholics.  The  statues  at  Athens  sweated  before  the 
battle  of  .Cheronea.  The  statue  of  Mars,  at  Rome, 
sweated  during  Tully's  consulship.  Antony's  statue, 
on  the  Alban  Mount,  bled  before  the  fight  at  Actium. 
The  ancient  Romans  kissed  the  toe  of  the  Pontifex 
Maximus,  and  the  ancient  Druids  kissed  the  toe  of 
tlieir  chief  priest.  Holy  water  is  a  Pagan  institution. 
It  stood  in  the  same  part  of  the  temples  as  in  the 
churches,  and  was  used  to  touch  the  body.  They 
called  it  lustral  water.  Incense  is  Pagan.  Roman 
Catholics  celebrate  the  Purification  of  the  Virgin  on 
the  2d  of  February :  the  old  Romans  celebrated  the 
miraculous  conception  of  Jove  on  the  2d  of  February. 
The  priest's  vestments  come  from  the  old  Roman 
priests,  and  have  the  same  names. 

The  Roman-Catholic  churches  are  full  of  the  relics 
of  saints.  A  church  in  Cologne  has,  built  into  its 
walls,  the  bones  of  ii,ooo  martyred  virgins.  In  the 
cathedral  of  Cologne  are  shown  the  skulls  of  the 
three  wise  men  who  came  to  see  the  infant  Jesus.  It 
is  said  there  is  extant,  in  different  places,  enough  of 
the  wood  of  the  true  cross  to  make  a  dozen  of  the  same 
size  as  the  original  one.  The  holy  shirt  of  Jesus  is 
kept  in  the  Lateran  Church  at  Rome,  and  also  in  the 
church  of  Argenteuil,  and  a  third  is  kept  at  Treves. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  they  exhibited  to  the  people 
a  feather  from  the  wing  of  the  Archangel  Michael ; 


254  STKPS    OF    BELIEF. 

one  of  the  bones  of  Moses  ;  one  of  the  thorns  from  the 
flesh  of  the  Apostle  Paul ;  some  of  the  tears  of  the. 
Redeemer  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus ;  and  a  member  of 
Parliament  in  England  lately  stated  in  his  jDlace  that 
in  eight  Catholic  churches  to-day  there  are  flasks  in 
which  is  kept  the  milk  from  the  bosom  of  the  Holy 
Virgin.  But  all  this  is  of  pagan  origin.  There  are 
immense  buildings  in  India  called  Topes,  erected  be- 
fore the  birth  of  Christ  by  the  Buddhists,  over  the 
relics  of  their  saint.  One  in  Ceylon  contains  his  tooth. 
Another  covers  the  place  where  his  shadow  once  fell. 
Pausanias  says  that  in  the  Greek  temples  they  pre- 
served an  egg  believed  to  have  been  laid  by  Leda, 
and  some  of  the  clay  out  of  which  Prometheus  had 
formed  men.  In  a  mosque  near  Mecca  is  kept  the  leg 
of  mutton  which  JNIohammed  was  about  to  cat,  but 
which  spoke  to  him  and  said,  "  Eat  me  not,  I  am 
poisoned." 

In  many  Roman-Catholic  churches  are  to  be  seen 
votive  ofl'erings  presented  by  those  who  have  been 
cured  from  disease  or  saved  from  danger  by  the  Virgin, 
or  by  some  saint.  The  walls  are  often  entirely  covered 
with  arms,  legs,  and  hands  made  of  marble,  or  silver, 
hinig  up  by  those  who  have  been  cured  of  diseases  in 
those  organs.  But  in  the  museums  of  Europe  you 
find  exactly  similar  images  and  votive  oflerings, 
from  Roman,  Greek,  or  Egyptian  tombs.  These  same 
images  were  suspended  in  the  pagan  temples,  for  the 
same   reason  ;  and   the   custom   is  often  alluded  to  by 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  255 

classic  writers.  Certainly  there  is  no  hai"m  in  borrow- 
ing a  custom  from  the  ancients,  if  it  is  a  good  one.  I 
do  not  blame  the  Roman-Catholic  Church  for  being 
willing  to  take  good  things  wherever  it  can  find  them. 
The  reverence  for  relics  is  natural  to  man.  Who 
would  not  be  thankful  to  obtain  a  piece  of  the  original 
manuscript  of  one  of  Paul's  Epistles  to  put  into  his 
collection  of  autographs?  Pilgrimages  to  the  graves 
of  saints  are  natural.  We  go  to  Mount  Vernon  to  see 
the  tomb  of  Washington  ;  and  Mr.  Everett  gave  a  lec- 
ture one  hundred  and  fifty  times  in  order  to  raise 
money  to  buy  the  Mount  Vernon  estate  for  the  nation. 
But  to  allow  false  relics  to  be  manufactured  is  not  the 
part  of  a  true  church.  Thousands  of  pilgrims  every 
year  go  on  their  knees  up  the  Scala  Santa  or  Holy 
Stairs  at  Rome,  supposed  to  have  been  brought  by  the 
Empress  Helena  from  Jerusalem  in  326,  and  believed 
to  be  the  steps  of  the  house  of  Pilate.  'Thei'e  is  not 
the  least  historic  evidence,  or  probability,  that  when 
Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  these  steps  were  preserved 
or  could  have  been.  Yet  the  papal  bulls  give  nine 
years'  indulgence  for  each  of  the  twenty-eight  steps  so 
ascended  by  a  pilgrim. 

"  God  is  a  spirit,"  said  Jesus,  "  and  those  who  wor- 
ship him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
Devotion  is  not  enough  to  make  Christian  worship : 
there  should  also  be  truth.  The  Roman-Catholic 
Church  has  an  infinite  good  nature :  it  has  taken 
pains  to  suit  its  worship  to  the  passions,  prejudices, 


256  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

and  habits  of  mankind.  Therefore  its  churches  are 
crowded,  and  its  people  are  more  devout  than  Protes- 
tants. They  worship  more.  But  is  their  worship 
purifying  and  elevating.''  The  Catholics  w^orship  moi'e 
than  the  Protestants.  But  the  Mohammedans  worship 
nioix  than  the  Catholics.  The  Hindoos  worship  more 
than  the  Mohammedans.  Is  it  the  quajitUy  or  the 
quality  of  pi'ayer  which  makes  it  acceptable  to  God.'' 
Two  commands  Jesus  gave  in  relation  to  prayer, 
which  seem  to  have  been  forgotten  by  his  disciples. 
One  was,  Do  not  pray  much^  as  though  that  would 
help  3'ou.  Do  not  make  long  prayers,  or  use  many 
repetitions,  for  God  knows  already  what  you  want, 
and  says,  "  Befoze  they  call  I  will  answer,  and  while 
they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear."  The  other  com- 
mand was,  Do  not  pray  in  public,  to  be  seen  of  men  ; 
but  go  into  your  closet  to  pray.  The  chief  part  of  the 
public  worship  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  in  order  to 
be  seen.  It  is  an  exhibition.  When  the  priest  per- 
forms mass  he  does  not  speak  to  the  congregation,  nor 
with  them,  but  in  Latin ;  and  he  cannot  be  heard,  for 
he  turns  his  back  to  the  people.  They  follow  him  in 
their  prayer-books  as  well  as  they  can,  and  look  at  the 
elevation  of  the  host  when  the  bell  rings.  In  Protes- 
tant churches  there  is  an  attempt  at  least  to  have  all 
pray  together,  minister  and  j^eople. 

However,  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Protestant 
worship  is  what  it  ought  to  be,  any  more  than  the 
Catholic  worship.     Each  has  faults  of   its  own,  and 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  2^'J 

opposite  faults.  One  has  in  it  more  of  love  than  of 
truth  :  the  other  more  of  truth  than  of  love.  That  is 
the  distinction  of  the  two  churches  all  thi'ough.  One 
is  cold,  but  pure  ;  the  other  is  warm,  but  turbid  with 
very  mixed  sentiments.  Protestantism  has  more  moral- 
ity and  less  piety ;  Catholicism,  more  piety  and  less 
morality.  Romanism  is  more  loving,  gentle,  friendly ; 
Protestantism  is  more  truthful,  pure,  and  conscientious. 
All  this  goes  into  the  worship.  The  Roman  Catholics 
put  every  thing  into  their  worship,  true  or  false,  which 
seems  to  do  good  to  the  worshipper,  or  to  make  him 
happy.  Protestants  are  so  careful  to  have  only  what 
is  true,  that  their  worship  becomes  an  occupation  for 
the  intellect,  and  grows  cold. 

One  day,  perhaps,  we  shall  have  a  service  which 
v/ill  unite  the  merits  of  both  ;  a  ritual  which  shall 
combine  fine  architecture,  music,  and  paintings,  with 
simplicity,  purity,  and  Christian  truth.  Our  churches, 
standing  always  open,  will  be  the  religious  homes  of 
the  people,  into  which  they  can  always  turn,  and  rest 
their  souls  from  the  weariness  of  daily  tasks.  They 
will  not  be  merely  for  prayer,  but  also  for  all  humane 
action,  work,  culture,  and  social  intercourse. 

In  Catholic  countries  the  poorest  man  or  woman, 
living  in  misery  at  home,  has  a  share  in  the  noblest 
and  most  beautiful  building  in  the  city.  Every  morn- 
ing they  have  as  good  a  right  to  go  into  their  magnifi- 
cent church,  as  the  nobility  or  the  king.  There  is  fine 
music  ;  there  is  a  daily  mass ;  there  are  pictures,  the 

17 


258  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

masterpieces  of  art ;  there  are  statues  and  exquisite 
carvinsfs  in  marble  and  wood.  There  is  something^  for 
eye,  ear,  and  heart,  as  well  as  for  the  intellect.  Cannot 
■we  do  the  same ?  Why  should  not  the  walls  of  our 
churches  be  hung  with  illustrations  of  the  life  of  Jesus, 
great  Protestant  paintings?  Why  should  there  not  be 
every  day,  at  suitable  hours,  the  finest  devotional 
music.''  Why  should  we  not  have  lighted,  warmed, 
and  handsomely  furnished  parlors,  opened  every  eve- 
ning for  conversation  }  Where  the  Catholics  have  done 
well,  let  us  not  be  afraid  to  imitate  them  ;  and,  if  we 
can,  to  better  their  example. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Results  of  this  Discussion. 

'nr^HERE  are  two  different  views  of  the  Christian 
-*-  Church :  the  one  places  the  essence  of  it  in  its 
visible  part,  the  other  in  its  invisible  part. 

The  first  of  these  may  be  called  the  Church  of  the 
Mustard  Seed  ;  the  second,  the  Church  of  the  Leaven. 
The  one  is  an  outward,  visible  tree,  in  which  the  birds 
come  and  build  their  nests.  The  second  is  the  little 
leaven,  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  gradually  leaven- 
ing the  whole. 

The  true  Christian  Church  comprehends  both  ideas. 
It  is  an  inward  communion,  and  an  outward  oi'gani- 
zation.  Roman  Catholics  also  believe  in  the  inward 
spirit  of  communion  in  the  church,  as  its  soul.  Protes- 
tants also  believe  in  an  outward  organization  of  the 
church,  as  its  body.  Every  living  thing, has  a  soul 
and  a  body  :  without  soul,  the  body  is  only  a  corpse  ; 
witliout  body,  the  soul  is  only  a  ghost. 

Both  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants  believe  in 
the  church  visible  and  the  church  invisible.  But  the 
one  makes  the  visible  church  the  root,  and  the  invis- 


26o  STEPS    OF    BKLIHF. 

ible  church  the  fruit ;  the  other  makes  the  invisible 
church  the  root,  and  the  visible  church  the  fruit. 

The  Roman  Catholic  teaches  that  safety  consists  in 
being  in  outward,  open  communion  with  the  true, 
visible  church,  of  which  the  pope  is  the  head.  Ai 
long  as  you  are  in  that,  you  are  safe.  Protestants 
teach  that  safety  consists  in  being  in  inward  spiritual 
communion  with  the  invisible  church  of  truth  and 
love,  of  which  the  invisible  Christ  is  the  head. 

The  question  resolves  itself  into  this :  What  are  we 
to  do  first.''  What  is  the  first  step  to  take.''  The 
Roman  Catholic  says  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to 
have  faith  in  tlie  visible  church,  and  to  submit  to  its 
authority  ;  till  this  is  done,  nothing  is  done  ;  when  this 
is  done,  all  things  else  will  follow.  The  Protestant 
says  the  first  thing  is  to  be  united  to  the  invisible 
church  -by  faith  in  Christ,  and  obedience  to  him ; 
when  this  is  done,  all  is  done. 

The  es.sential  religion  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church 
is  in  the  sacrament.  A  sacrament  is  an  outward  act, 
which,  when  duly  performed,  conveys  an  inward 
power.  The  absolute  importance  of  being  in  com- 
munion with  the  visible  church  lies  in  this,  —  that 
otherwise  -you  cannot  have  access  to  the  sacraments, 
which  are  essential  to  the  life  of  the  soul. 

Any  Protestants,  thei-efore,  whether  Baptists,  High- 
Church  Episcopalians,  or  others,  who  make  any  ex- 
ternal ordinances  essential  to.  salvation,  are  really 
planted  on  the   Roman-Catholic  idea  of  the  church, 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  261 

and  not  on  the  Protestant  idea.  The  great  growth  of 
the  Baptist  body  in  America  is  because  they  make 
of  baptism  a  sacrament ;  implying  that  no  one  is  safe 
until  he  is  baptized.  If  you  wish  to  increase  the  visi- 
ble church,  you  can  easily  do  so,  by  making  it  essential 
to  salvation  to  belong  to  it. 

The  Roman-Catholic  principle,  as  distinguished  from 
the  Protestant,  is  this :  "  Do  good,  and  you  will  be 
good."  The  Protestant  principle  is :  "  Be  good,  and 
you  will  do  good." 

The  Catholic  begins  on  the  circumference  and  works 
in  to  the  centime  ;  the  Protestant  begins  at  the  centre 
and  works  out  to  the  circumference. 

There  is  evidently  truth  in  both  principles.  An 
outward  action,  good  or  bad,  reacts  on  the  soul.  An 
inward  conviction,  intention,  affection,  works  its  way 
out  into  the  conduct.  Consequently,  it  will  not  do  to 
condemn  wholly  the  Roman-Catholic  principle.  The 
real  objection  is  not  that  it  is  false,  but  that  it  becomes 
false  by  being  stated  exclusively.  If  you  say,  "  A  man 
may  be  made  better  by  joining  a  church,  and  receiving 
its  sacraments,"  you  say  what  is  true.  If  you  say,  "He 
can  be  made  better  only  by  joining  the  church,  and  re- 
ceiving its  sacraments,"  you  say  what  is  false. 

Materialism  says,  "  We  are  made  what  we  are 
by  outward  circumstances,  and  outward  influences." 
Spii'itualism  says,  "  We  are  made  what  we  are  by  an 
inward  formative  principle."  One  teaches  that  the 
body  makes  the  soul ;  the  other,  that  the  soul  makes 


262  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

the  body.  Materialism  is  at  one  with  the  Roman- 
Catholic  theory  ;  Protestantism  with  the  transcendental 
theory. 

To  show  how  entirely  the  principle  of  the  Roman- 
Catholic  Church  is  to  work  from  without,  I  quote  the 
commandments  of  the  church  from  St.  Vincent's  Man- 
ual (page  25). 

"Commandments  of  the  Church. 

"  I.  The  Catholic  Church  commands  her  children,  on  Sun- 
days and  holy  days  of  obligation,  to  be  present  at  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  mass,  to  rest  from  servile  work  on  those  days, 
and  to  keep  them  holy. 

"  2.  She  commands  them  to  abstain  from  flesh  on  all  days 
of  fasting  and  abstinence ;  and  on  fast  days  to  eat  but  one 
meal. 

"  3.  She  commands  them  to  confess  their  sins  to  their  pas- 
tor, at  least  once  a  year. 

"4.  She  commands  them  to  receive  the  blessed  sacrament 
at  least  once  a  year,  and  that  at  Easter,  or  during  the  paschal 
time.      , 

"  5.  To  contribute  to  the  support  of  our  pastors. 

"6.  Not  to  marry  within  the  fourth  degree  of  kindred,  nor 
privately  without  witnesses,  nor  to  solemnize  marriage  at  cer- 
tain prohibited  times." 

The  condemnation  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church 
is  in  the  extravagance  of  its  pretensions.  If  it  de- 
manded less,  it  would  receive  more.  It  declares  itself 
the  one  infallible,  apostolic,  holy  church,  out  of  which 
is  no  salvation.  By  this  extravagance  it  incurs  the 
Master's  sentence  :  "  Whoso  exalteth  himself  shall  be 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  263 

abased."  For  this  arrogant  assumption  implies  that 
there  are  no  Christians  outside  the  Churcli  of  Rome : 
consequently  no  Christian  goodness.  Therefore  every 
good  man  and  woman  in  Protestant  Churches  is  a 
refutation  of  the  Roman-Catholic  claim. 

The  assumption  of  Rome  is  not  that  it  produces  a 
better  sort  of  Christianity  than  is  created  by  Protes- 
tantism, but  that  its  own  kind  is  the  only  kind.  It 
ought  to  follow  that  all  the  goodness  of  Christendom 
is  contained  in  Roman-Catholic  countries.  These 
should  be  full  of  holiness,  truth,  purity,  conscien- 
tiousness, and  love.  The  difference  should  be  so  evi- 
dent as  to  need  no  argument.  But  it  is  not  so.  The 
morals  of  Protestant  nations  are  at  least  as  good  as 
those  of  Catholic  nations.  Hence  the  Catholic  as- 
sumption is  untenable,  and  the  Catholic  claim  is 
false. 

Protestantism  has  been  long  enough  in  the  world  to 
enable  us  to  judge  of  this.  Jesus  teaches  us  that  the 
tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  He  declares  that  a  good 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  nor  a  corrupt  tree 
good  fruit.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
Let  us  apply  this  test  to  the  Roman-Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant Churches. 

A  legitimate  fruit  of  the  Roman-Catholic  tree  is 
persecution  on  account  of  opinion.  The  Roman 
Church  assumes  to  know  certainly  what  doctrines  are 
true  and  what  false.  But  false  doctrines,  it  says,  if 
believed,  will  destroy  the  soul  for  ever.     If  by  burning 


264  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

a  few  hundred  or  a  few  thousand  individuals,  it  can 
save  whole  nations  from  becoming  heretics,  it  saves 
hundred  of  millions  from  eternal  fire.  Accordingly, 
it  holds  itself  justified  in  so  doing.  Hence,  by  a  nat- 
ural consequence,  come  the  Inquisition,  Torquemada, 
Alva,  the  Bartholomew  Massacre. 

The  present  pope,  in  his  "  Encyclical  Letter "  and 
•'  Syllabus,"  declares  this  doctrine  very  plainly.  In 
the  "  Encyclical,"  he  says  there  are  those  "  who  dare 
to  teach  .  .  against  the  doctrine  of  the  holy  Scriptures, 
of  the  church,  and  of  the  holy  Fathers,  that  condition 
of  society  the  best,  in  which  the  civil  jDOwer  does  not 
recognize  the  obligation  to  coerce  by  enacted  penalties 
the  violation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  except  so  far  as 
the  public  peace  may  require  it."  He  also  calls  it  re- 
markably impudent  to  affirm  "  that  the  church  has  no 
right  to  coerce  the  violators  of  her  laws  by  temporal 
punishments."  In  the  twenty-fourth  section  of  the 
"  Syllabus,"  he  also  condemns  the  opinion  that  "  the 
church  has  no  power  to  employ  force,  nor  has  she  any 
temporal  power,  direct  or  indirect."  It  may  be  said 
that  Catholics  generally  do  not  share  this  view. 
But  we  can  scarcely  open  any  Catholic  journal  with- 
out finding  some  declaration  in  this  spirit.  Thus  the 
*'  Univcrs,"  the  ulti"amontane  journal,  published  in 
France,  speaks  thus  :  — 

"  A  heretic,  examined  and  convicted  by  the  church,  used 
to  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  power,  and  punished  with 
death.     Nothing  has  ever  appeared  to  us  more  natural,  or 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  365 

more  necessary.  More  than  one  hundred  thousand  persons 
perished  in  consequence  of  the  heresy  of  Wickliff ;  a  still 
greater  number  by  that  of  John  Huss.  It  would  not  be 
possible  to  calculate  the  bloodshed  caused  by  the  heresy  of 
Luther,  and  it  is  not  yet  over.  After  three  centuries  we  are 
at  the  eve  of  a  recommencement.  The  prompt  repression  of 
tl;e  disciples  of  Luther,  and  a  crusade  against  Protestantism, 
would  have  spared  Europe  three  centuries  of  discord  and  of 
catastrophes,  in  which  France  and  civilization  may  perish. 
It  was  under  the  influence  of  such  reflections  that  I  wrote 
the  phrase  which  has  so  excited  the  virtuous  indignation  of 
the  red  journals.  Here  it  is  ;  '  For  my  part,  I  avow  frankly 
my  regret  is  not  only  that  they  did  not  sooner  burn  John 
Huss,  but  that  they  did  not  equally  burn  Luther  ;  and  I  re- 
gret, further,  that  there  had  not  been  at  the  same  time  some 
prince  sufficiently  pious  and  politic  to  have  made  a  crusade 
against  the  Protestants.' " 

If  it  be  thought  that  such  doctrines  cannot  be  held 
by  Catholics  in  America,  we  refer  to  the  following 
passage  extracted  from  Mr.  Orestes  A.  Brownson's 
"  Review,"  to  show  the  contrary.  Mr.  Brownson  is 
an  American,  educated  a  Protestant,  for  many  years 
the  advocate  of  the  broadest  religious  hberty.  If  such 
a  man  as  this,  on  becoming  a  Catholic,  defends  perse- 
cution, it  is  evident  that  nothing  in  modern  civilization, 
or  modern  education,  can  neutralize  the  logic  which 
carries  every  consistent  Catholic  to  that  conclusion. 
Thus  spoke  Mr.  Brownson,  some  years  ago  indeed ; 
but  he  has  never  retracted  his  declaration. 

"  The  church  is  a  kingdom  and  a  power,  and  as  sucli  must 
have  a  supreme  chief;  and  his  authority  is  to  be  exercised 


266  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

over  states  as  well  as  individuals.  If  the  pope  directed  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  this  country  to  overthrow  the  consti- 
tution, sell  its  territory,  and  annex  it  as  a  dependent  prov- 
ince to  the  dominions  of  Napoleon,  they  would  be  bound  to 
obey.     It  is  the  intention  of  the  pope  to  possess  this  country." 

In  another  Romish  periodical,  a  writer  signing  him- 
self "  Apostolicus,"  thus  confirms  the  bold  statement  of 
the  more  illustrious  writer  :  — ■ 

"  I  say,  with  Brownson,  that  if  the  church  should  de- 
clare that  the  constitution  and  the  very  existence  of  this 
or  any  other  country  should  be  extinguished,  it  is  a  sol- 
emn ordinance  of  God  himself;  and  every  good  Catholic 
would  be  bound,  under  the  terrible  penalty  pronounced 
against  the  disobedient,  to  obey." 

The  "  Freeman's  Journal,"  the  organ  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  also  says,  — 

"  The  pope  of  Rome  has  supreme  authority  over  every 
square  foot  of  surface  on  this  globe.  His  rights  are  circum- 
scribed only  by  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  consummation 
of  the  ages." 

Pei'secution  for  oj^inion's  sake  is  therefore  one  of 
the  fruits  native  to  this  Roman-Catholic  tree.  When- 
ever and  wherever  it  does  not  bear  this  fruit  it  is  be- 
cause it  is  feeble,  and  grows  in  an  uncongenial  soil. 
Give  it  strength  enough,  and  this  fruit  will  imme- 
diately reappear.  But  usually  it  has  not  been  wanting. 
Witness  the  crusade  preached  against  the  Albigenses, 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  by  order  of  Innocent  III.,  in 
which  AriKjld,  tlic  papal  legate,  triumphantly  declared 
that  he  had  put  to  the  sword,  in  one  city,  twenty  thou- 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  267 

sand  persons,  sparing  neither  rank,  sex,  nor  age.  Wit- 
ness the  thivty-one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twelve 
persons  burnt  ahve  in  Spain  alone,  by  the  holy  Inqui- 
sition, between  1633  and  1808.  Witness  the  Barthol- 
omew Massacre  in  France,  to  commemorate  which, 
medals  were  struck  in  Rome  by  order  of  the  Pope. 
Witness  the  horrible  cruelties  of  Alva  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, by  order  of  Philip  II.,  who  only  Hved  to  obey  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  do  as  his  confessor  ordered  him. 

Is  the  church  which  has  ordered  and  permitted 
these  cruelties  and  atrocities  the  only  holy  and  apos- 
tolic church  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  came  "not  to  destroy 
men's  lives,  but  to  save  them  "  ?  Do  these  bitter  fruits 
prove  the  tree  to  be  the  blessed  and  true  vine,  outside 
of  which  is  no  Christianity.? 

If  it  be  said  that  Protestants  have  also  persecuted, 
there  are  two  answers.  First,  when  Protestants  per 
scented,  it  was  done  in  opposition  to  their  principles  ; 
and  the  logic  of  those  principles  soon  put  an  end  to 
the  persecution.  But  when  Catholics  persecute,  it  is 
in  accordance  with  their  principles ;  and  the  logic  of 
those  principles  continually  tends  to  reproduce  the 
peisccution.  Secondly,  Protestants  do  not  profess  to 
be  the  only  true  Christians,  and  therefore  are  not  ex- 
pected to  be  so  much  better  than  the  Catholics.  But 
Catholics,  because  they  claim  a  monopoly  of  Christi- 
anity, are  bound  to  be  free  from  all  that  is  inconsistent 
witli  its  principles. 

Another  fruit  of  true  Christianity  is  social  progress, 


268  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

and  an  advance  in  national  life,  Roman  Catholics 
then,  if  their  assumption  is  correct,  ought  to  be  mani- 
festly far  in  advance  of  Protestant  countries  in  science, 
art,  literature ;  in  comfort,  wealth,  population,  lon- 
gevity ;  in  good  government,  in  the  administration  of 
justice,  in  the  reform  of  criminals  and  vicious  persons  ; 
in  general  education ;  in  charitable  institutions ;  in 
private  morality,  purity  of  manners,  peaceful  homes, 
general  goodness.  Now,  if  we  compare  Catholic  na- 
tions with  Protestant,  do  we  find  the  former  thus  pre- 
eminent.'' Are  Spain,  Austria,  Italy,  Portugal,  where 
the  Catholic  Church  has  ruled  witli  absolute  authority 
until  the  present  time,  so  very  much  superior  to  Prot- 
estant Switzerland,  Holland,  Prussia,  England,  that  he 
who  runs  can  read  their  vast  advantage.''  On  the  con- 
trary, has  not  the  result  of  this  long  Catholic  teaching 
been  in  Italy,  Spain,  and  Austria,  a  revolt  against  the 
church  itself,  often  accompanied  with  a  hatred  of  all 
religion .'' 

Here  are  a  few  statistics  of  education  :  *  The  city  of 
Turin,  in  1848,  while  Catholic,  spent  43,762  francs 
on  education.  It  now  spends  one  million.  In 
1S60,  under  the  good  Catholic  Bourbons,  Naples 
had  only  42  schools,  and  3,000  pupils.  Now 
it  has  III  schools,  and  17,000  pupils.  All  the 
Italian  governments  together,  before  1S60,  spent  only 
S.000,000  francs.     Now  they  spend  40,000,000.      In 

*  See   Contemporary  Review,    1S69,   page  391. 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  269 

1S65,  Italy,  which  had  always  been  taught  by  the  ec- 
clesiastics, contained,  out  of  every  lOO  men,  72  who 
could  not  read  nor  write,  —  and  out  of  every  100 
women,  84  who  could  not  read  nor  write.  In  Prot- 
estant and  Catholic  Europe,  out  of  every  10,000  per- 
sons, there  are  in  the  schools, —  in  Prussia,  1,530;  in 
England,  1,400  ;  in  Holland,  1,280  ;  in  France,  1,660  ; 
in  Belgium,  1,440  ;  in  Austria,  S30  ;  in  Spain,  620  ;  in 
Italy,  500;  and  in  Russia,  150.  Are  the  countries 
under  Roman-Catholic  influence  as  immeasurably  su- 
perior to  Protestant  nations,  in  point  of  education,  as  the 
Roman  theory  requires?  And  shall  we,  in  the  United 
States,  give  up  our  unsectarian  system  of  education,  and 
adopt  the  sectarian  system  of  the  Catholic  Church? 
This  is  what  it  asks  us  to  do.  It  demands  of  us  to 
change  the  grand  system  of  free  schools,  the  best  insti- 
tution of  the  state,  in  order  to  gratify  the  tastes  of 
foreign  priests,  and  emigrants  from  Europe.  We  re- 
ceive them  to  our  country  ;  we  make  them  citizens ; 
many  of  them  come  as  paupei's,  and  in  a  few  years 
become  prosperous  under  our  institutions.  Then  they 
ask  us  to  give  up  our  American  system  of  universal 
education,  which  puts  one  in  five  out  of  our  whole 
population  into  the  schools,  and  take  that  of  Italy 
which  educates  one  out  of  twenty.  But  the  American 
people  have  been  at  school  too  long  to  be  deceived  by 
the  arguments  of  Mr.  Hecker  and  his  Jesuit  friends. 
As.  according  to  Scripture,  the  meek  are  to  inherit 
the  eartii ;    and  as,  according  to  Romanism,  only  the 


270  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

Catholics  can  possess  Christian  meekness,  it  follows 
necessarily  that  the  Catholic  nations  should  far  surpass 
the  Pi'otestant  nations  in  all  outward  prosperity.  They 
ought  to  be  the  wealthiest,  strongest,  best  governed. 
In  them  alone,  there  ought  to  be  the  union  of  order 
and  freedom,  respect  for  law,  and  individual  liberty. 
When  the  Reformation  came,  the  Catholic  writers  pre- 
dicted that  it  would  end  in  anarchy  and  ruin,  that 
every  Protestant  nation  would  be  brought  to  utter  de- 
struction. For  example,  says  a  writer  in  the  "  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes"  (Jan.  15,  1S70), — 

"  Bossuet,  sahiting  with  an  eloquent  voice  the  court  of  the 
widow  of  Charles  I,,  believed  himself  able  to  enter  into  the 
counsels  of  the  most  high,  in  predicting  that  England  was 
doomed  to  eternal  wars,  and  that  there  was  no  possible  rem- 
edy for  her  evils  except  in  returning  to  her  ancient  faith  and 
obedience.  This  prophecy  was  uttered  by  Bossuet  twenty 
jears  before  the  final  banishment  of  the  Stuarts,  which  has 
given  to  this  reprobate  nation  the  longest  period  of  power, 
peace,  and  freedom,  ever  enjoyed  by  any  people  of  the  world." 

It  is  a  favorite  argument  with  our  Roman-Catholic 
friends  that  Protestantism  tends  to  infidelity  and  athe- 
ism. We  must  choose,  they  say,  between  Rome  and 
utter  infidelity. 

A  very  careful,  and  apparently  a  very  well-informed, 
writer  in  the  "London  Spectator"  (June  20,  1869) 
takes  a  very  different  view  of  the  situation.  We  quote 
a  few  passages  :  — 

"  One  of  the  most  marked  signs  of  the  times  in  Catholic 
countries  is  the  extent  to  wliich  irreligion  is  becoming  a  reli- 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  27 1 

gion,  a  fanaticism  as  fierce  and  as  propagandist  as  that  of  any 
creed  has  ever  been.  The  change  is  not  so  perceptible  in  the 
Protestant  States,  where  irrehgion  tends  towards  indifferent- 
ism,  or  rather  to  a  tone  of  mind  lower  even  than  that.  This, 
however,  is  not  the  tone  of  irreligion  in  the  Catholic  countries 
of  the  Continent.  There  the  new  attitude  of  Catholicism,  its 
fiercely  aggressive  obscurantist  and  persecuting  tone,  has 
irritated  scepticism  to  passion,  to  a  hatred  of  Catholicism 
and  its  ministers,  which  in  its  ferocity  and  the  concreteness 
of  its  manifestations  recalls  the  days  of  the  first  French 
revolution.  The  laughing  scepticism  of  'polite  society'  is 
vanishing  away,  and  in  its  place  we  have  a  propagandist  spirit 
which  cannot  be  content  without  overt  acts. 

"  Men  write,  it  is  reported,  from  all  parts  of  France  to  con- 
gratulate M.  de  Sainte-Beuve,  most  brilliant  among  essayists 
and  among  the  few  remaining  masters  of  the  lost  art  of  con- 
versation, to  congratulate  him  on  maintaining  the  'sacred 
cause '  of  materialism  in  the  Senate  ;  and  one  such  corre- 
spondent signs  himself  a  member  'of  the  grand  diocese,' 
thus  making  of  denial  not  only  a  creed,  but  an  ecclesiastical 
organization.  Others,  said  to  be  thousands  in  number,  bind 
themselves  by  oath  never  to  accept  the  services  of  the  Church 
in  life,  in  death,  or  after  death  ;  to  be  married  by  civil  cere- 
monial, to  reject  the  'last  offices,'  —  which  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries have  a  social  as  well  as  religious  importance,  —  and  to 
be  buried  in  unconsecrated  ground.  Our  readers  remember 
the  astounding  explosion  of  materialism  among  the  students 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  who  assembled  at  Liege  to  adver- 
tise their  scorn  and  hatred  of  the  ideas  involved  in  the  words 
'God,'  and  'soul,'  and  'revelation,'  and  'church,'  a  scorn 
and  hate  to  which  words  seemed  inadequate  to  give  expres- 
sion except  in  phrases  that  smelt  of  blood. 

"  In  Belgium,  where  Ultramontanism  has  selected  its  battle- 
ground, materialism,  utter  and  propagandist,  is  the  creed  of 
all  but  the  religious,  and  is  accompanied  by  a  desire  not 


272  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

merely  to  quit,  but  to  put  down  the  church  as  an  evil  thing,  a 
foe  to  human  society.  The  struggle  is  regarded  as  one  be- 
tween civilization  and  the  Syllabus,  as  a  warfare  between 
irreconcilable  ideas,  in  which  every  weapon  is  to  be  welcomed 
and  quarter  is  disgraceful.  M.  de  Montalembert,  who,  if  a 
bigot,  is  furthest  of  mankind  from  a  fool,  declares  publicly 
his  belief  that  Paganism  is  winning,  that  the  Continent  is  on 
the  eve  of  a  burst  of  irreligion,  or  hatred  to  religion,  such  as 
even  the  Revolution  did  not  produce,  in  which  all  institutions 
claiming  to  be  divine  will  be  overthrown,  and  men  commence 
the  organization  of  a  new  and  secularist  world. 

"  That  revolt  of  the  schoolmasters  in  Austria  was  a  revolt  of 
the  leaders  of  the  peasantry,  and  was  directed  against  ideas 
as  well  as  against  priests.  It  is  stated  that  the  Kaiser  has 
admitted  to  the  Vatican  that  on  religious  matters  he  is  not  a 
free  agent ;  that  all  his  soldiers  could  not  enable  him  to  veto 
the- '  Godless  bills  ; '  and  whether  this  account  is  correct  or 
not,  it  is  certain  that  the  Austrian  masses  never  got  so  excited 
on  any  secular  matter.  We  have  often  reminded  our  readers 
of  the  fact  that  a  city  riot  in  Belgium  always  includes  an 
attack  on  j^riests  or  monasteries  ;  and  the  curious  state  of 
affairs  in  the  department  of  Charente  is. a  present  illustration 
of  the  state  of  feeling.  The  priests  there  are  being  protected  by 
Lancers  from  the  hands  of  their  flocks,  who,  were  the  soldiers 
withdrawn,  would  tear  them  in  pieces.  The  very  best  friends 
the  clerical  order  can  liave  are  the  few  highly  intellectual 
men  who  strive  to  reconcile  Rome  with  the  modern  world, 
who  maintain  that  Christianity  is  compatible  with  any  form 
of  material  civilization.  To  such  men,  the  only  men  who 
stand  between  them  and  the  materialists,  and  the  only  te.ach- 
ers  who  might  in  the  last  resort  teach  the  masses  that  no 
dogma  can  produce  hunger,  that  freedom  is  consistent  with 
belief  in  the  real  presence,  and  that  the  unity  of  the  church 
does  not  increase  the  conscription,  the  Ultramontanes,  con- 
strained by  Rome,  impelled  by  fear  for  themselves,  driven  by 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  273 

terror  for  the  future  of  mankind,  offer  the  Syllabus,  under 
penalty  of  being  considered  foes  Hke  the  Voltairians  and  the 
materialists.  Naturally,  the  intellectual  Catholics  and  the 
laity  refuse,  being  unable  to  deny  what  they  see,  —  that  civili- 
zation is  good  ;  and  the  church  is  really  reduced  to  what  its 
enemies  call  it,  a  corporation  hostile  to  society,  and  as  such, 
in  the  judgment  of  those  enemies,  to  be  ecrasee,  razed  off 
the  ground  it  cumbers.  The  church  offers  in  Catholic  Europe 
only  the  alternatives  of  abject  obedience  or  hostility ;  and 
Europe,  unable  to  obey,  without  discretion  accepts  the  alter- 
native. It  is  not  with  pleasure,  but  with  pain,  that  we  record 
a  growing  doubt  whether  M.  de  Montalembert  is  not  in  the 
right ;  whether,  if  Rome  does  not  change  her  policy,  Europe 
may  not  see  an  explosion  of  irreligion,  or  fanatical  hatred  to 
religion  of  every  kind,  false  and  true  alike,  which  will  make 
the  last  quarter  of  this  century  the  darkest  through  which 
modern  man  has  passed.  We  like  not  Catholicism,  with  its 
sacerdotal  claims,  or  Ultramontanism,  with  its  machine-like 
obedience ;  but  either  is  better,  Hindooism  is  better,  we  had 
almost  written  Fetichism  is  better,  than  the  foul  creed  which 
papal  madness  is  establishing,  —  the  creed  which  has  for  its 
solitary  profession  the  dogma,  '  Sugar  is  sweet.'  " 

Some  Catholic  controversialists  remind  us  that  a 
great  many  Protestants  in  New  England  have  gone 
from  orthodox  Protestantism  to  Unitarianism  and  Uni- 
versalism,  and  that  many  have  gone  from  these  to 
transcendentalism,  rationalism,  radicalism ;  and,  for 
aught  I  knovv^,  some  have  gone  on  from  these  to 
atheism. 

But  this  does  not  prove  that  Protestantism  is  logi- 
cally bound  to  go  on  to  Unitarianism,  Universalism, 
radicalism,  and  atheism.     It  does  not  prove  that  there 


274  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

is  no  logical  stand-point  between  Romanism  and 
atheism.  Foi",  suppose  we  admit  that,  as  a  matter 
of  fact  and  history,  atheism  comes  out  of  radicalism, 
radicalism  out  of  Unitarianism,  and  Unitarianism  out 
of  Protestantism  ;  where  did  Protestantism,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  come  from?  Did  it  not  come  out  of  Ro- 
manism.'' Martin  Luther  and  all  the  original  Prot- 
estants were  Catholics  before  they  became  Protestants. 
If,  therefore,  you  say  that  because  atheism  comes  out 
of  Protestantism,  therefore  Protestantism  is  the  mother 
of  atheism  ;  then  Catholicism  is  the  grandmother  of 
atheism,  for  Protestantism  came  from  it. 

I  grant  that  the  tendency  which  takes  men  from  Ro- 
manism to  Protestantism  is  the  same  tendency  that 
afterwards  takes  them  on  to  rationalism  and  atheism. 
It  is  the  tendency  to  free  thought.  It  is  the  tendency 
to  throw  oft'  human  authority  and  to  think  for  one's 
self.  Out  of  that  tendency  came  Protestantism ;  out 
of  that  tendency,  carried  to  an  extreme,  comes  atheism. 
But  who  says  that  logic  requires  us  to  carry  a  principle 
to  extremes  ?  How  docs  it  appear  that  it  is  reasonable 
to  rush  from  one  extreme  to  the  opposite.'' 

Catholics  believe  that  there  is  a  tendency  in  Prot- 
estantism toward  rationalism  and  atheism,  and  con- 
clude from  that,  without  proving  it,  that  this  is  a 
logical  and  rational  tendency.  But  we  do  not  reason 
so  in  other  things.  We  usually  suppose  that  the  rea- 
sonable view  is  between  two  extremes.  Horace  says, 
"  While  fools  shun  one  extreme,  they  run  into  another." 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  275 

The  tendency  of  a  cautious  man  is  to  be  too  cau- 
tious, that  is,  timid  ;  the  tendency  of  courage  is  toward 
rashness  ;  the  tendency  of  self-i'espect  is  to  pride  ;  the 
tendency  of  humility  is  to  diffidence.  But  we  do  not 
usually  say  that,  therefore,  there  is  no  rational  and  log- 
ical ground  between  rashness  and  cowardice,  between 
pride  and  diffidence.  Then  why  should  we  say  that 
if  we  believe  in  God  and  Christ,  we  must  also  logi- 
cally believe  in  the  Roman  Church  and  all  its  as- 
sumptions? Is  there  no  medium  between  atheism  and 
superstition,  between  bigotry  and  scepticism  ?  When 
in  all  other  things  we  consider  it  irrational  to  go  from 
one  extreme  to  another,  why  consider  it  rational  in 
religion?  Protestantism  is  the  true  medium  between 
Romanism,  which  submits  reason  to  authority,  and 
that  ultra-rationalism  which,  like  the  spider,  spins  its 
whole  web  out  of  its  own  bowels. 

But,  in  truth,  Protestantism,  instead  of  helping  the 
tendency  of  free  thought  toward  atheism,  hinders 
it :  it  keeps  men  from  atheism,  instead  of  sending 
them  forward  into  it.  In  Roman-Catholic  countries, 
as  soon  as  a  man  begins  to  doubt  the  infallibility  of 
the  church,  he  goes  right  on  into  atheism.  In  Prot- 
estant countries,  when  a  Roman-Catholic  doubts,  he 
becomes  a  Protestant,  a  Unitarian,  or  at  worst  a  deist. 
Tht  greatest  outbreak  of  atheism,  in  modern  times,  was 
in  France,  shortly  befoi'e  the  French  Revolution.  Now 
the  Protestants  had  been  extirpated  by  Louis  XIV. ; 
the  Huguenots  were  driven  out  of  France,  and  it  was 


276  ^  STEPS   OF    BEI.IEF. 

left  purely  Catholic.  Yet  in  two  generations  nearly 
the  whole  intellect  of  the  country  had  gone  over  into 
atheism.  Dr.  Priestley,  being  in  Paris,  shoi"tly  before 
the  French  Revolution,  in  the  company  of  some 
savans,  said  he  did  not  believe  there  was  one  real 
atheist  in  the  world.  "  Count  us,"  replied  one  of  the 
Frenchmen:  "every  one  here,  except  yourself,  is  an 
atheist."  Almost  the  only  men  of  eminence,  not 
atheists,  were  Voltaire  and  Rousseau.  Rousseau  was 
brought  up  as  a  Protestant  in  Geneva :  Voltaire  was  a 
great  student  of  English  Protestant  writers,  like  Locke 
and  Newton.  As  soon  as  free  thought  breaks  out  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  it  goes  directly  into  atheism. 
There  is  no  stopping-place.  Blanco  White  tes- 
tifies the  same  about  Spain ;  and  Protestantism  had 
been  rooted  out  of  Spain  by  the  inquisition.  The 
same  thing  is  true  in  Italy.  Protestantism  is  the 
safety-valve  for  free  thought.  The  Roman  Church 
fastens  it  down,  and  the  result  is  an  explosion. 

But,  suppose  that  doubt  does  not  come  out,  is  the 
man  or  nation  any  better  for  that?  The  policy  of  the 
Roman  Church  is  to  repress  all  outbreaks  of  heresy : 
the  policy  of  Protestant  countries  is  to  let  them  come 
out.  That  is  why  you  often  see  and  hear  more  of 
scepticism  in  Protestant  countries  than  in  Catholic. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  we  are  now  not  opposing 
Catholicism  as  a  religion,  but  only  its  extravagant  as- 
sumptions. If  it  were  contented  to  take  its  place  as 
one  denomination,  one  expression  of  Christianity,  we 


FROM    ROMANISM    TO    PROTESTANTISM.  277 

should  not  be  called  on  to  oj^pose  it.  But  it  is  because 
it  arrogantly  claims  to  possess  all  of  Christianity,  and 
therefore  becomes  an  exclusive  and  persecuting  church, 
that  we  are  bound,  in  the  interest  of  Christian  liberty, 
to  oppose  its  pretensions,  and  to  show  their  emptiness. 
The  day  will  come,  let  us  hope,  when  these  pre- 
tensions will  be  laid  aside.  When,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  national  churches  are  established  everywhere 
independent  of  Rome,  we  may  see  the  end  of  papal 
assumption.  Then  every  church  will  admit  itself  to 
be  an  organ,  and  only  one,  in  Christ's  body ;  each  co- 
operating with  the  rest  for  the  good  of  all. 


FOURTH    STEP. 
FROM   THE   LETTER  TO   THE   SPIRIT. 


"Tt)  irvevfiu  tan  rb  ^(,)onowvv, 
'tj  aup^  ovK  (l)(j)e?[£l  oiSev." 

John  vi.  63. 

**  'Ov  6e  rd  nvevfia  KVpiov,  iKcl  Ekcvdeplay 

2  Cor.  iii.  17. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Theology  and  Religion. 

TN  this  last  and  briefei-  division  of  our  little  work,  we 
-*-  shall  treat  of  the  future  of  Christianity.  We  have 
seen  that  Protestant  Christianity  is  an  advance  on  Ro- 
manism. But  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  a  poor 
Protestant  is  better  than  a  good  Catholic,  nor  that 
there  is  nothing  good  in  the  Church  of  Rome  which 
Protestants  do  not  possess.  In  truth,  each  church 
might  learn  something  from  the  other ;  for  each  has 
advantages  which  the  other  needs,  and  deficiencies 
which  the  other  might  supply. 

The  Reformation  was  a  providential  event,  came 
when  it  was  needed,  and  has  done  an  immense  good 
to  the  world.  Still,  it  has  done  some  harm.  It  de- 
stroyed the  outward  church  unity  previously  existing, 
and  has  not  yet  substituted  a  better  kind.  Each  church 
lias  taken  to  itself  a  part  of  the  Christian  life,  and  is 
wanting  in  another  part.  Rome  has  more  of  order, 
system,  organization,  unity ;  the  Protestant  Church, 
more  of  freedom,  variety,  activity,  and  progress.  In 
Romanism  there  is  more  of  sentiment,  more  of  wor- 


282  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

ship,  more  of  the  womanly  and  affectionate  side  of 
life.  In  Protestantism  there  is  more  of  conscience, 
of  truthfulness,  of  intellectual  activity',  more  of  the 
manly  side  of  life.  Each  needs  what  the  other  has ; 
and  the  church  of  the  future  must  unite  the  advantages 
of  both. 

But  this  reconciliation  can  only  be  effected  by  going 
down  deeper,  and  going  up  higher,  in  the  Christian  life. 
We  must  forget  the  things  behind,  and  reach  out  to 
those  before.  We  must  pass  from  the  letter  of  Chris- 
tianity to  its  spirit.  And  the  first  step  is  to  compre- 
hend the  difiercjice  between  theology  and  religion. 

So  long  as  these  two  are  identified,  sectarianism  and 
Digotry  will  continue  to  divide  the  church.  If  I  believe 
that  the  soul  is  saved  by  truth,  as  the  Scripture  asserts, 
and  then  confound  truth  in  the  soul  with  the  form 
in  which  it  is  expressed,  I  shall  consider  my  particular 
form  of  truth  essential  to  salvation.  Then  I  cannot, 
and  ought  not,  to  tolerate  any  variety.  "Truth  is 
one,"  I  say.  "  If  I  am  right,  you  are  wrong,  and  vice 
versd."  It  is  therefore  essential  to  Christian  progress 
to  see  that  the  letter  of  truth  is  one  thing,  and  the 
spirit  of  truth  something  very  different ;  in  other  words, 
to  see  the  difference  between  theology  and  religion. 

What  then  is  i-eligion? 

Religion  is  looking  up,  with  reverence,  love,  and 
homage  to  the  Invisible  Perfection,  —  not  in  us,  but 
above  us.  When  I  see  the  honest  and  faithful  dog, 
looking  up  with  devoted  affection  to  the  mysterious 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  283 

mind  of  man,  there  is  a  certain  rudi mental  religion  in 
that  loving  gaze  ;  more  so,  I  think,  than  in  any  mere 
eflbrt  at  self-improvement  or  self-culture.  Religion  lifts 
us  above  ourselves  in  the  admiration  of  something 
better  and  higher.  If  the  God  I  worship  is  not  as 
good  as  I  am  ;  if  I  think  him  more  pow^erful,  but  un- 
just, vindictive,  cruel,  —  then  this  is  not  religion,  but 
superstition.  It  does  not  lift  me  up,  but  drags  me 
down.  When  we  find  in  ourselves  something  higher 
than  ourselves,  —  purer,  nobler,  better,  —  we  then  are 
listening  to  God's  voice  in  the  soul.  We  are  tempted, 
we  go  astray,  we  often  do  wrong ;  but  there  is  a  voice 
within,  a  voice  of  eternal  right,  speaking  in  the  con- 
science, which  never  consents  to  our  wrong.  It  is 
something  higher  than  we  are  ;  it  is  God  speaking  to 
us  as  the  eternal  right. 

We  are  often  poor,  mean,  low,  but  there  is  in  the 
soul  an  ideal  of  something  better  than  we.  In  the  midst 
of  our  folly  and  fault,  there  stands  before  us  the  pure 
image  of  serene  goodness,  and  we  cannot  but  reverence 
it.  This  also  is  God,  showing  himself  to  the  soul ; 
and  when  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  this  infinite  beauty, 
purity,  holiness,  —  not  in  us,  but  above  us,  —  we  have 
a  sense  of  religion.  When  we  look  constantly,  steadily, 
deliberately  at  this  image  of  perfect  goodness,  we 
become  religious.  The  sight  and  worship  of  this 
supreme  excellence  is  religion.  Putting  it  into  words, 
and  defining  it  in  propositions,  is  theology. 

There  are  hours  in  which  I  catch  in  nature  the  sense 


284  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

of  a  universal  presence ;  above  nature,  yet  in  it.  In 
the  infinite  beauty  of  a  summer  day ;  in  the  solemn 
majesty  of  a  winter- night ;  in  the  sublimity  of  ocean 
lashed  by  the  tempest  into  black  i"oaring  waves,  over 
whose  slippery  sides  the  vessel  staggers  and  reels 
through  the  pitiless  storm  ;  in  the  deep  stillness  of 
autumn  woods,  where  no  sound  comes  but  the  drop- 
ping of  nuts  or  the  faint  whistle  of  the  lonely  bird,  — 
amid  all  these  scenes  there  comes  up  in  the  soul  the 
sense  of  a  great  unity,  a  substance  below  all,  a  power 
above  all,  a  life  within  all ;  and  we  come  face  to 
face  with  God,  This  is  religion.  Analyzing  this 
sentiment,  and  stating  it  in  metaphysical  formulas,  is 
theology. 

When  I  open  the  Gospels,  and  read  the  words  of 
Jesus,  I  find  myself  in  sunshine.  Light  and  warmth 
are  united  in  his  teachings,  inseparably.  The  light 
warms,  the  warmth  illuminates.  He  makes  goodness 
lovely,  natural,  simple,  easy.  He  is  no  austere  moral- 
ist, no  cold  lawgiver,  but  a  man  among  men  ;  not 
bound  by  the  etiquette  of  religious  ceremonies,  but 
just  as  willing  to  take  a  walk  with  his  disciples  on  tlie 
Sabbath  as  on  any  other  day.  He  does  not  use  the 
stereotyped  language  of  piety ;  but  he  teaches  by  the 
dough  in  the  bread-trough,  by  the  door  through  which 
he  passes,  by  the  net  his  disciples  are  pulling  out  of 
tlie  water,  with  good  and  bad  fish  sticking  in  its 
meshes.  He  makes  God  seem  near,  and  heaven  close 
by,  and  life  full  of  good  opportunity,  and  every  soul 


FROM    THE    LETTER   TO    THE    SPIRIT.  285 

capable  of  goodness.  He  is  my  friend,  my  teacher, 
my  brother ;  and  his  thought  seems  to  become  a  part 
of  mine.  That  is  religion.  Then  some  learned  man 
comes  and  defines  Jesus  ;  saying  how  much  of  him  is 
human,  and  how  much  divine  ;  and  shows  me  how  it 
is  proper  to  talk  of  him  according  to  the  metaphysics 
of  Aristotle.     That  is  theology. 

Perhaps  I  have  never  prayed  ;  or  I  have  said  my 
prayers,  repeating  by  rote  some  formula.  God  has 
seemed  a  great  way  off,  and  very  high  up,  and  I  do 
not  know  whether  he  hears  me  or  not.  If  I  speak  to 
him,  I  think  it  proper  to  praise  and  adore  him  very 
much,  using  the  grandest  words  I  can  find.  But  some 
day,  in  my  hour  of  need,  —  in  my  great  sorrow,  Vi^hen 
the  darling  of  my  heart  lies  cold  by  my  side  ;  when 
my  love  is  deceived  ;  when  all  my  hopes  are  shattered, — 
I  suddenly  find  myself  talking  witli  my  God,  as  though 
he  indeed  were  close  by,  and  could  help  me  into  his 
peace.  In  a  moment,  every  thing  in  my  heart  is 
changed.  "  He  has  rebuked  the  winds  and  waves, 
and  there  is  a  great  calm."  After  that  I  know  what 
prayer  means.  After  that  I  go  to  God  just  as  I  am,  — 
poor,  weak,  sinful,  —  and  talk  with  him  as  a  friend. 
After  that,  whenever  I  feel  too  weak  for  my  work,  I 
just  look  up,  inwardly ;  and  I  find  myself  fed  with  the 
daily  bread  I  needed.  This  is  religion.  But  when  I 
take  these  experiences,  classify  them,  philosophize 
about  them,  and  state  them  as  an  article  of  faith, 
tliat  is  theology. 


286  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

If  I  have  this  threefold  experience  of  God  ;  if  I  find 
him  in  nature  and  j^rovidence  as  a  universal  Father, 
taking  care  of  all  his  children,  sending  sun  and  rain  on 
the  evil  and  the  good  alike  ;  if  I  find  him  as  taught  by 
Christ,  and  shown  in  his  life,  as  the  friend  of  my  soul ; 
if  I  find  him  also  in  my  heart  in  prayer,  giving  me 
light  and  peace,  —  how  does  it  help  me  to  be  told  that 
this  is  a  trinit}^,  and  that  God  is  three  persons  in  one 
substance?  Such  a  statement  may  or  may  not  suit  my 
intellect;   but  how  does  it  help  my  heart? 

Religion  belongs  to  tlie  heart ;  it  is  love.  Theology 
belongs  to  the  head  ;  it  is  speculation.  But  love  is  one 
and  the  same  thing  always,  while  speculation  is  al- 
ways different.  Love  is  always  one.  A  mother's  love 
for  her  little  child  is  the  same,  whether  she  is  a  queen 
in  Buckingham  palace,  or  a  beggar  nursing  her  baby 
under  a  hedge.  A  gentleman  told  me  that  he  went  to 
church  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  Queen  Victoi-ia 
was  also  worshipping.  After  church  he  stood  to  see 
her  come  out  with  her  husband  and  babies ;  and  re- 
ported her  as  saying,  "  Shall  we  go  home,  Albert,  or 
shall  we  take  the  children  to  drive?"  It  did  not  seem 
a  very  memorable  speech  to  bring  back  to  America; 
but  he  remen-il:)ered  it,  because  it  showed  him  tliat  a 
queen  was  just  like  any  other  mother  after  all.  Tiiat  is 
why  we  all  are  thrilled  with  poetry  ;  for  poetry  speaks 
the  language  of  the  heart.  When  the  baby  in  Homer 
cries  because  his  father  has  his  helmet  on,  and  Hector 
takes  it  ofi'  in  order  to  kiss  his  child,  —  tliat  touch  of 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  2S7 

nature  overleaps  the  twenty-five  centuries  between,  and 
makes  Hector  and  ourselves  akin.  But  when  the  meta- 
physician explains  the  theory  of  paternal  love,  and 
shows  us  its  theology,  we  feel  that  we  are  several 
thousand  years  apart.  Religion,  which  is  love,  is 
always  one  and  the  same  ;  theology  differs  with  every 
different  thinker.  Is  it  not  curious,  then,  that  Christians 
should  have  always  endeavored  to  unite  the  church  by 
theology,  instead  of  by  religion  ?  It  is  as  though  we 
should  try  to  tie  the  rivers  together  with  ropes  made 
of  sand,  instead  of  letting  them  flow  together  in  the 
ocean. 

Religion,  wherever  you  find  it,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is 
always  one  and  the  same  thing.  It  is  always  rev- 
erence, faith,  obedience,  gratitude,  hope,  and  love. 
Father  Hue,  the  Roman  Catholic,  found  a  religion 
like  his  own  among  the  Buddhist  monks  in  the  Lam- 
asery of  Thibet.  Bishop  Southgate  found  a  piety 
like  his  own  in  the  aged  Mohammedan,  bowing  his 
head  to  the  ground  in  prayer  to  Allah.  I  knew  a  man 
who  thought  that  no  Unitarian  could  be  a  Christian  ; 
but  who  was  converted  from  that  infidelity,  merely  by 
opening  a  chamber-door  unexpectedly,  and  finding  his 
Unitarian  friend  on  his  knees  before  God.  It  has  hap- 
pened that  men,  in  the  bitterness  and  rage  of  sectarian 
cruelty,  have  dragged  their  theological  opponent  to 
the  stake  ;  but  that  when  they  have  seen  him  calm 
amid  the  flames,  calling  on  God,  they  have  rushed 
away  in  despair,  crying,  "We  are  damned  for  ever: 


288  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

we  have  burnt  a  saint."  Religion,  a  sentiment,  created 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  human  hearts,  is  one  and  the 
same  ;  wliile  theology  dilVers,  with  every  age,  with 
every  church,  with   every  man. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  "  Is  there  then  no  truth  wjiich 
is  equally  true  for  all  times  and  all  men?"  For  ex- 
ample, is  it  not  always  true,  and  the  same  truth,  to 
say,  "There  is  one  God,  the  Father?"  And  is  not 
that  a  theological  statement,  a  proposition  for  the 
intellect,  the  article  of  a  creed? 

I  answer  that  the  statement,  "  There  is  one  God," 
does  not  mean  exactly  the  same  thing  in  the  mouth 
of  a  Unitarian,  and  in  the  mouth  of  a  Trinitarian. 
The  Unitarian  means  by  it  a  simple  unity ;  the  Trini- 
tarian, a  complex  unity.  And  when  I  say,  "  God  is  a 
Father ;  "  does  that  mean  the  same  to  him  who  has 
been  brought  up  by  a  kind  and  tender  father,  and  to 
him  who  never  had  a  father,  or  had  a  brutal  and  vi- 
cious one  ?  The  child  who  has  had  a  bad  father,  and 
a  good  mother,  would  understand  the  truth  better  by 
hearing,  "  God  is  my  mother."  Therefore  no  theo- 
logical statement,  even  in  the  simplest  form,  means 
the  same  thing  to  all  minds.  But  filial  love,  in  a 
child's  heart,  so  far  as  it  is  real,  is  always  the  same. 
If  it  exist  at  all,  and  so  far  as  it  exists,  it  is  the  same 
thing.  There  may  be  more  or  less  of  it,  but  the  radi- 
cal feeling  is  one. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  I  think,  taught  exactly  what  I 
have  been  saying,  when  he  declared  that  knowledge, 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  289 

even  his  own  knowledge  and  teaching  about  God,  was 
partial,  imperfect,  and  would  come  to  an  end ;  while 
faith,  hope,  and  love  would  never  come  to  an  end. 
"  We  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  (or  teach)  in 
part,"  says  he  ;  "  but  when  that  which  is  perfect  is 
come,  then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away." 
Modern  philosophy  teaches  the  same,  in  calling  all 
knowledge  relative ;  made  up  of  the  sight  of  the  thing 
itself,  and  the  capacity  of  the  one  who  sees  it.  The 
form  of  knowledge,  which  is  the  verbal  statement, 
changes  and  passes  ;  but  the  substance  of  knowledge, 
which  is  the  inward  experience  in  the  soul,  remains. 
Knowledge  passes ;  truth  remains.  There  are,  most 
certainly, 

"Truths  which  wake 
To  perish  never,"  — 

truths,  hidden  in  the  heart,  concerning  God,  duty,  im- 
mortality, love,  and  peace. 

The  question  we  are  discussing,  it  will  be  observed, 
is  not  whether  right  opinions  are  not  desirable,  useful, 
and  important,  but  whether  they  are  essential.  Can 
a  man.  be  a  true  Christian  whose  opinions  about  Chi^is- 
tianit}  are  all  wrong?  That  is  the  point.  Now,  since 
we  find  good  men  holding  all  varieties  of  opinion,  it  is 
evident  that  goodness  does  not  depend  on  sound  opin- 
ion. There  is  no  sect  so  small,  so  poor,  so  heretical, 
as  not  to  have  its  saints,  its  heroes,  its  martyrs.  When 
the  Qiiakers  came  to  New  England  as  a  new  sect,  no 
w^onder  our  Puritan  Fathers  thought  it  impossible  that 

19 


2i,0  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

tliey  could  be  Christians.  The  Quakers  began  by  reject- 
ing tlie  whole  Calvinistic  theology,  —  the  trinity,  the 
atonement,  and  total  depravity.  Then  they  declared 
that  the  Bible  was  not  the  only  rule,  nor  the  higliest 
rule,  of  Christian  faith  and  practice  ;  but  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  above  the  Bible.  Then  they  flatly  contru- 
dieted  the  fundamental  article  of  all  New-England 
theology,  —  that  man  was  unable,  until  he  was  con- 
verted, to  think  or  feel  or  act  rightly.  On  the  contrary, 
they  declared  that  there  is  in  all  men  an  inner  light,  — 
a  "  light  which  lightens  every  man  who  comes  into  the 
world,"  a  "  grace  of  God,  bringing  salvation,  which  has 
appeared  to  all  men,"  and  that  every  man  who  heard 
that  voice  in  his  soul  might  find  the  way  to  heaven. 
Going  further,  they  rejected  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  also  the  Christian  ministry.  And  so,  hav- 
ing renounced  all  orthodox  theology,  they  ended  by 
disowning  the  existing  church,  and  all  ecclesiastical  in 
stitutions,  as  the  work  of  Satan.  Then  they  proceeded 
further  still,  and  took  up  the  foundations  of  civil  soci- 
ety,—  refused  to  take  oaths,  pay  taxes,  serve  on  juries, 
do  military  service,  or  hold  slaves.  And  to  make 
themselves  still  more  unpopular  with  the  common 
people,  —  which  resents  mostly  any  innovation  in  ex- 
ternal matters,  —  they  dressed  queerly,  they  talke.I 
queerly,  and  they  lived  queerly.  No  wonder  that  our 
Puritan  Fathers  were  shocked,  and  tried  to  keep  them 
from  coming  into  New  England.  And  it  is  no  wonder, 
thou'di  it  is  a  thinsf  to  be  for  ever  lamented,  that  when 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  29I 

they  could  not  keep  them  from  coming  here,  —  in  those 
da^•s  wlien  every  one  persecuted,  and  thought  persecu- 
tion the  right  thing,  — they  should  have  hung  them  on 
Boston  Common.  And  yet,  to-day,  w^ho  questions  or 
denies  the  Christianity  of  the  Friends.^  Who  denies 
tliat  they  have  just  as  much  religion,  to  say  the  least, 
as  any  other  communion? 

In  one  sense,  all  right  doctrines  are  essential  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  that  is,  all  are  essential  to  its  integrity  as  a 
system  of  thought.  So  every  oi"gan,  limb,  and  fibre  is 
essential  to  the  integrity  of  the  human  body.  The  hairs 
on  the  head,  the  nails  on  the  fingers,  are  essential  to 
make  a  complete  human  being.  A  bald  man,  a  deaf 
man,  a  one-legged  man  is  not  wholly  a  man.  But  a 
near-siglited  man,  or  a  man  who  has  lost  his  arm,  can 
live.  In  theolog}',  every  doctrine  is  essential  to  the 
integrity  of  the  system.  But  no  one,  now,  considers 
the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin,  or  even  election  and 
reprobation  to  be  essential  doctrines.  Yet  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists  used  to  fight  more  savagely  and  bitterly- 
over  these  questions  than  any  would  do  now  about  the 
trinity.  Logically,  no  part  of  a  theological  S3'stem  is 
unessential.  Every  doctrine,  down  to  the  most  mi- 
nute, is  necessary  to  the  integrity  of  the  whole.  It  is 
idle,  therefore,  to  select  two  or  three,  and  say  that  tlicse 
are  essential,  and  that  those,  and  only  those,  are  Chris- 
tians who  believe  in  them.  One  thing  or  the  other. 
Make  the  ti'ee  good,  and  all  its  fruit  good  ;  or  else 
make  the  tree  corrupt,  and  all  its  fruit  corrupt:  for 
tiie  tr^"  is  known  by  its  fruit. 


292  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

That  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit  is  a  fundamental 
Christian  axiom  ;  but  neither  bigotr}-  nor  sectarianism 
can  accept  it.  They  do  not  judge  the  tree  by  the  fruit, 
but  the  fruit  by  the  tree.  In  the  famous  convention  in 
1869,  held  at  Portland,  of  the  different  branches  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  it  was  laid  down 
that  all  evangelical  Chi-istians  might  be  members. 
Some  one  asked,  "  Who  ai^e  evangelical  Christians?" 
and  some  one  else  answered,  "  Those  who  love  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  sincerity."  Then  an  honest  man  from 
Fall  River  said  tliere  were  Unitarians  in  his  town  who 
loved  the  Lord  Jesus  as  much  as  anybody  else  :  were 
they  evangelical.''  To  which  a  learned  divine  from 
Pittsburg  or  Wheeling  replied  that  a  Unitarian  could 
not  love  Jesus :  it  was  impossible.  So  he  judged  the 
fruit  by  the  tree.  The  tree  is  labelled  a  Unitarian  tree  ; 
then  it  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit.  The  fruit  looks 
good,  smells  good,  tastes  good  ;  it  looks  like  love  for 
Jesus ;  it  seems  like  lionesty,  piety,  submission,  peni- 
tence, faitli.  But  it  comes  from  a  Unitarian  tree ; 
therefore  throw  it  away,  it  is  all  bad.  But  if  we  can- 
not know  goodness  when  we  see  it,  all  the  foundations 
of  beUef  crumble.  How  can  Christianity  be  proved 
to  be  true,  unless  we  know  what  goodness  is  before 
we  become  Christians }  We  argue  that  Christianity  is 
a  religion  favorable  to  human  virtue  ;  that  it  makes 
men  better ;  that  Jesus  himself  was  pure,  hol}'^,  and 
good  beyond  all  precedent.  But  all  this  argument 
gives  way,  if  we  are  unable  to  tell  a  good  man,  until 
we  learn  what  creed  he  holds. 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  293 

It  is  on  this  fundamental  distinction,  between  reli- 
gious experience  which  gives  us  a  knowledge  of  God, 
Christ,  and  Christianity,  and  theological  speculation 
which  gives  us  only  opinions  about  them,  that  the 
battle  of  Christian  freedom  and  Christian  union  is  to 
be  fought  and  won.  It  is  the  only  solid  foundation  for 
either.  So  long  as  men  believe  Christianity  to  be  a 
matter  of  opinion,  they  will  feel  bound  to  be  exclusive, 
to  separate,  to  persecute,  to  enslave  their  own  minds 
and  those  of  others.  Liberal  Christians  in  all  sects 
are  thei"efore  fighting  the  battle  of  humanity  and  Chris- 
tianity. They  contend  for  that  knowledge  of  God  and 
Christ  of  which  Jesus  speaks  when  he  says,  "  Flesh 
and  blood  have  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  Peter,  but 
my  Father  in  heaven."  No  doctrine  is  essential  which 
man  can  teach  man,  which  flesh  and  blood  can  I'eveal, 
which  can  be  packed  into  propositions,  put  into  logical 
boxes,  and  carried  about  by  tract  societies.  All  essen- 
tial knowledge  is  born  of  life,  and  is  the  faith  of  the 
heart.  "  With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteous- 
ness." Paul  does  not  pray  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
the  heads  of  the  Ephesians,  but  in  their  hearts. 

Religion  is  the  root  of  theology,  not  theology  the 
root  of  religion.  The  life  is  the  light  of  man,  not  the 
reverse.  Filling  the  brain  with  doctrines  about  God 
and  Christ,  before  life  has  led  the  soul  to  see  them, 
often  tends  to  benumb  the  spiritual  nature  rather  than 
to  quicken  it.  Instead  of  teaching  young  persons  doc- 
trines and  speculations  about  Jesus,  lead  them  to  Jesus 


2^4  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

himself.  Let  them  read  his  words,  study  his  life,  and 
appi}-  it  daily  in  their  own.  We  can  never  know  God 
by  speculation  :  we  know  him  as  we  live  from  him 
and  to  him,  as  we  endeavor  to  serve  him,  as  we  come 
near  him  in  practical  obedience,  as  we  love  and  help 
his  children. 

This  distinction  also  is  tlie  guarantee  of  perfect  in- 
tellectual freedom.  So  long  as  we  think  that  any  form 
of  opinion,  any  method  of  statement,  may  be  essential 
to  salvation,  we  cannot  examine  it  freely.  We  are 
held  by  our  hopes  and  our  fears  to  certain  conclusions, 
before  we  begin  to  inquire.  We  are  working  in  chains. 
Let  us  admit  and  believe  that  a  man  may,  in  his  specu- 
lations, be  even  an  atheist,  and  if  he  is  honest,  yet 
really  be  a  Christian  in  his  heart.  Let  us  believe  that 
many  a  man  who  is  all  wrong  in  his  theology  may  be 
all  right  in  his  faith.  Let  it  be  seen  that  love  alone 
abides,  —  love,  rooted  in  faith,  made  strong  by  hope. 
Then  we  become  free  to  inquire,  modestly  but  faith- 
fully, into  all  truth. 

And  this  principle  alone  w^ill  j^roduce  union  in  the 
church,  and  so  enable  it  to  convert  the  world  to  Christ 
and  God.  Jesus  in  his  last  prayer  intimates  that  the 
■world  cannot  be  converted  to  him  till  his  disciples  are 
one  :  "  That  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  thou.  Father,  art 
in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  may  also  be  one  in  us ; 
that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 
As  long  as  Christians  consent  to  unite  only  with  those 
vviio   agree  with    them    in    intellectual   results,  so   long 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  295 

the  church  will  never  become  one.  But  if  they  will 
unite  with  all  honest  men  who  are  seeking  to  know 
God  and  Christ  and  to  do  right,  then  there  is  a  chance 
of  their  finally  coming  all  to  agree  in  opinion.  But 
the  only  real  unitv,  the  only  unity  which  Christianity 
demands,  is  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond 
OF  peace. 

I  lately  saw  a  picture  of  Christ  among  the  doctors. 
The  little  child  was  sitting  in  the  midst,  and  with 
childlike  ardor  was  reaching  out  his  hands  while 'he 
uttered  his  thoughts  about  God  and  truth.  The  old 
doctors  were  standing  and  sitting  around  ;  some  search- 
ing their  books  to  find  an  answer  to  his  questions  ; 
some  asknig  each  other  what  they  thought  about  it ; 
some  repeating,  evidently  from  their  memory,  what 
they  had  learned  before.  They  represented  the  ortho- 
dox tradition ;  he,  the  immediate  revelation.  They 
stood  for  sound,  safe,  conservative  theology ;  he,  for 
that  divine  religion  which  makes  all  things  new  in  the 
heart,  the  life,  and  the  world. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Creed  of  Christendom. 

*'  I  ^HE  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  what  are 
■^  the  essential  unities  of  belief  in  the  Christian 
Church.  I  shall  endeavor  to  present  the  creed  of 
Christendom,  the  faith  of  the  true  Catholic  Church  ; 
and  to  show  how  many  more,  and  more  important, 
are  the  convictions  in  which  Christians  unite,  than 
those  about  which  they  separate  and  divide. 

It  is  true  that  when  we  first  look  at  the  church,  it 
seems  a  mere  battle-field  of  warring  creeds  and  oppos- 
ing sects.  Sectarianism  began  very  early  among  Chris- 
tians, as  far  back  as  the  days  of  the  apostles  and  the 
chmxh  of  Corinth.  Some  were  Paulists,  some  were 
Apollosians,  some  Peterites,  and  some  Christians,  with 
an  emphasis  on  the  first  syllable,  so  as  to  make  even 
that  name  of  union  a  sign  of  division.  In  a  century 
or  two  Christians  were  murdering  each  other  in  the 
streets  of  Alexandria,  about  the  difference  beween 
o^oovatog  and  ofioiovcsiog.  In  the  tenth  century  the  east- 
ern and  western  churches  divided  on  the  question 
whether  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Father, 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.         .      297 

or  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Afterwards  came  the 
crusades  against  heretics,  and  the  furies  of  tlie  inquisi- 
tion ;  and  later  still  the  horrible  wars  of  religion,  lay- 
ing waste  half  of  Europe.  This  now  seems  to  us  like 
a  hideous  dream.  At  present  we  only  persecute  each 
other  by  calling  names ;  and  even  that  luxury  seems 
fast  disappearing.  To  be  a  misbeliever  formerly  was 
to  be  a  miscreant ;  now  it  is  rather  an  honor.  Men 
whom  no  one  would  take  the  pains  of  listening  to,  if 
they  preached  the  old-fashioned  doctrines,  have  a  con- 
siderable following  if  they  are  supposed  to  be  the 
founders  of  a  new  religion,  or  the  denouncei's  of  the 
ancient  faith. 

The  bitterness  of  old  sectarian  bigotry  has  very  much 
departed,  but  separation  often  exists  where  there  is  no 
hostility.  We  have  almost  done  fighting  with  each 
other  about  our  differences  of  opinion,  but  as  yet  there 
is  no  union.  Union  will  come  only  when  we  perceive 
the  fact  that  we  really  are  at  one  in  all  essentials.  At 
present  we  only  tolerate  each  other,  and  stand  apart. 
But  when  we  realize  that  we  agree  in  one  hundred 
points  where  we  differ  in  one ;  that  we  agree  in  all 
essentials,  and  only  differ  in  unessentials ;  that  the 
practical  working  faith  of  all  Christians  is  about  the 
same,  then  we  shall  be  really  willing  to  co-operate,  to 
unite,  and  to  love  each  other.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
I  shall  now  devote  myself  to  showing  in  how  many 
things  Christians  are  all  agreed. 

The  first  article  in  the  creed  of  Christendom  is  this : 


298  STKPS    OF   BELIEF. 

"  We  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth."  Christians  dispute  in  regard  to 
the  metaphysical  nature  of  the  Deity,  as  to  the  mystery 
of  the  Trinity  and  the  hypostatic  union.  Some  say  that 
there  is  a  threefold  personality  —  or  a  threefold  mode 
of  being,  or  a  threefold  somewhat  —  in  the  Deity  ; 
and  others  contend  that  there  is  not.  But  so  obscure 
and  difficult  is  this  question,  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  the  most  acute  theologian  to  express  himself  intel- 
ligibly concerning  it,  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  find 
any  Scripture  terms  in  which  to  state  it;  and  so  it 
resolves  itself  at  last  into  a  question  of  words,  —  not, 
What  ought  we  to  believe  ?  but,  What  ought  we  to 
say?  Meantime,  all  Christians  believe  God  to  be  one, 
in  every  practical  sense.  We  do  not  worship  a  pan- 
theon of  Gods,  as  did  the  Greeks  and  heathen :  we 
worship  one  Supreme  Being,  —  above  all,  through  all, 
and  in  us  all.  All  Christians  agree,  as  against  atheism, 
that  there  is  a  God  ;  all  agree,  as  against  polytheism, 
that  there  is  but  one  God  ;  all  agree,  as  against  mate- 
rialism, that  he  is  a  Spirit;  all  agree,  as  against  pan- 
theism, that  he  is  a  person ;  all  agree,  as  against 
superstition,  that  he  is  infinitely  good,  not  a  God  of 
wrath,  but  of  love  ;  and  all  agree,  as  against  enthu- 
siasm and  fanaticism,  that  he  requires  a  reasonable 
and  a  moral  service,  not  one  of  madness  or  folly.  No 
doubt  all  kinds  of  aberrations  have  come  into  Cliris- 
tianity  ;  there  has  been  in  it  pantheism  and  polytheism, 
materialism   and  superstition,  enthusiasm  and  fanat- 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  299 

icism.  But  none  of  them  has  been  accepted  into  the 
creed  of  Christendom,  all  have  been  condemned  by  its 
unanimous  verdict.  The  doctrine  of  the  universal 
church  has  been,  that  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth  ;  that  he  is  a 
Spirit ;  that  he  is  one  ;  that  he  is  a  person  ;  that  he  is 
love,  and  dwells  in  love  ;  and  that  he  asks  for  a  manly, 
free,  and  reasonable  service. 

The  second  article  in  the  creed  of  Christendom  is 
this  :  "  We  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God." 

Christians  dispute  about  the  nature  and  rank  of 
Christ  in  the  creation.  Was  he  God.'*  Was  he  man.'' 
Was  he  some  great  archangel,  above  man,  below  God.'' 
But  those  who  call  him  God  can  only  explain  this 
Deity  by  speaking  of  a  mysterious  union  between  the 
Infinite  Spirit  and  the  human  soul  of  Christ.  And 
those  who  call  him  man  must  also  admit  that  he  was 
intimately  united  with  God  in  thought,  heart,  and  will. 
Even  the  most  radical  Christians  do  not  call  him  a 
common  man,  but  a  very  uncommon  man.  Who,  that 
claims  to  be  a  Christian  at  all,  doubts  or  questions  the 
purity,  the  truth,  the  humility,  the  courage,  the  human 
sympathy  of  Jesus.''  Who  denies  that  the  truth  he 
taught  has  been  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.''  Who 
can  resist  thp  conviction  that  the  movement  originated 
by  him  is  the  greatest  fact  in  human  History.-'  All 
Christians  are  agreed  here,  —  that  he  taught  love  to 
God,  and  love  to  man,  as  the  supreme  law ;  and  that 
higher  than  this  no  one  can  go. 


300  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

When  we  assert  with  all  of  Christendom,  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  what  do  we  mean  ?  We 
mean  that  his  method  of  overcoming  evil  with  good 
is  to  conquer  the  sin  and  misery  of  the  world.  We 
mean  that  his  truth  is  at  last  to  convince  all  under- 
standings, that  his  love  is  to  win  all  hearts,  and  that 
to  his  divine  holiness  every  knee  is  to  bow.  So  he  is 
to  be  the  Christ,  the  King  of  the  world.  He  is  our 
master,  because  he  reveals  to  us  a  higher  spiritual  law 
than  any  other.  He  is  our  Saviour,  because  nothing 
saves  us  from  evil  and  sin  like  the  conviction  he  im- 
parts of  the  infinite  tenderness  and  universal  fatherly 
love  of  God.  And  yet  he  is  our  brother,  made  in  all 
respects  like  his  brethren. 

The  third  aiticle  in  the  creed  of  Christendom  is  the 
Bible. 

All  Christians  believe  in  the  Bible  as  the  best  of 
books,  —  better  than  any  other,  sacred  or  profane. 
They  may  differ  about  the  way  in  which  it  was  in- 
spired. Some  may  think  that  the  Holy  Spirit  played 
on  the  writei'S  as  a  man  pla}'S  on  a  flute  ;  some  may 
believe  that  every  word  and  letter  of  the  Bible  is  abso- 
lutely true.  Others  may  believe  the  writers  inspired 
as  all  men  are  inspired,  only  more  so  ;  and  may  deny 
that  inspiration  is  infoUibility.  But  all  Christians  see 
in  the  Bible  a  book  full  of  God,  and  full  of  truth.  It 
is  sweetness  and  strength.  It  is  comfort  in  sorrow  ;  it 
is  guidance  in  duty  ;  it  lifts  us  near  to  God  ;  it  purifies 
the  soul.     When  we  go  to  sit  by  the  bedside  of  the 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  3OI 

sick  and  dying,  what  words  like  these  will  lift  the 
heart  to  a  sight  of  invisible  eternal  realities?  What 
preparation  for  the  dangers  of  life,  better  than  a 
knowledge  of  these  writings  ?  It  is  a  profitable  book,  — 
all  admit  that,  —  profitable  for  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
instruction  in  righteousness.  All  the  churches  believe 
in  the  Bible. 

The  fourth  article  in  the  creed  of  Christendom  is 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Is  there  any  Chris- 
tian who  does  not  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost.?  Christians 
differ  as  to  whether  it  is  a  person  in  the  Trinity,  and  as 
to  whether  its  influences  are  irresistible  or  persuasive. 
Some  think  it  comes  and  goes ;  others,  that  it  is  God 
with  us  always,  ready  to  send  love  and  truth  into  the 
heart  which  is  open  to  receive  it.  Some  think  that  it 
comes  to  put  something  in  us  which  was  not  there 
before  ;  others,  that  it  is  like  the  influence  of  one  soul 
on  another.  I  talk  with  my  friend.  I  am  angry.  I  am 
unhappy.  I  am  in  a  bad,  wicked  mood  of  mind.  But 
my  friend  is  calm,  strong,  just,  gentle,  generous.  As 
I  talk  with  him,  somehow  my  bad  passion  melts  away^ 
my  evil  purpose  dies  out  of  me.  It  is  not  his  argument 
which  has  convinced  me  ;  he  has  used  none.  It  is  his 
Holy  Spirit  which  has  convinced  me  ;  that  I  could  not 
resist.  So  God's  Holy  Spirit  convinces  us  when  we 
put  ourselves  in  communion  with  him. 

What  should  we  be  if  we  could  not  feel  that  in- 
effable presence.''    How  desperate  our  life,  if  we  did 


302  STEPS  OF  bp:lief. 

not  know  that  the  infinite  love  is  always  waiting  to 
bless  us.  As  a  man  closes  the  curtains  of  his  chamber, 
and  sluits  one  the  day,  so  we  often  close  our  heart 
against  God,  because  we  are  determined  on  some 
course  which  we  know  to  be  wrong.  But  as,  when 
we  open  the  shutters,  and  draw  the  curtains,  the  light 
streams  in  ;  so  whenever  we  are  willing  to  turn  our 
souls  to  God,  his  light  is  ready  to  illuminate  us.  We 
all  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  the  Spirit  which  leads 
us  into  new  truth ;  wliich  enables  Christianity  to 
make  progress ;  which  receives  more  light  from  the 
greater  experience  of  the  church  and  the  soul ;  the 
Spirit  which  dwelleth  with  us,  and  shall  be  in  us.  The 
creed  of  Christendom  declares,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Spirit." 

The  creed  of  Christendom  has  also  included  a  belief 
in  the  church. 

Christians  have  contended  and  fought  as  to  which 
was  the  true  church,  but  all  have  believed  in  some 
church.  All  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints,  —  in 
the  brotherhood  of  those  who  hold  the  same  truth,  serve 
the  same  Master,  seek  the  same  heaven.  The  essence 
of  a  church  is  where  two  or  three  meet  together  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  Two  or  three  men,  with  a  strong 
belief  in  any  thing,  make  a  church.  Their  belief  draws 
them  together  and  keeps  them  in  sympathy.  We  have 
churches  in  politics,  —  the  Democratic  Church  and  the 
Republican  Church.  We  have  churches  in  reforms,  — 
the  Anti-Slavery  Church  and  the  Temperance  Church. 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  303 

We  have  churches  in  society,  —  Aristocratic  and  Ple- 
beian. We  have  Conservative  clubs,  Union  clubs,  and 
Woman's-Rights  clubs.  Ideas  organize  associations ; 
the  largest,  deepest,  highest  ideas  organize  the  largest 
and  most  enduring  associations.  A  church,  in  some 
form,  is  a  need  of  human  nature. 

There  are  those  who  stay  outside  of  churches,  and 
prefer  to  spend  their  Sunday  in  reading,  sleeping,  or 
taking  a  walk.  I  think,  however,  that  they  lose  a  good 
deal.  They  excommunicate  themselves  from  the  blessed 
sense  of  human  brotherhood.  In  other  places,  men 
meet  with  those  related  to  themselves  in  some  special 
ways,  —  meet  their  customers,  meet  their  associates, 
meet  those  who  belong  to  their  clique.  In  the  Church 
of  Christ  they  meet  all  God's  children  in  universal 
ways.  Novalis  said  that  Christianity  was  the  last  word 
of  Democracy.  Christianity  alone  unites  us  with  all 
mankind.  Those  who  think  they  have  no  need  of  the 
church,  who  think  they  have  outgrown  the  church,  are 
much  mistaken.  They  grow  small,  narrow,  puny,  in 
their  isolation  from  the  great  tide  of  human  life,  which 
only  can  flow  together  in  the  house  of  God,  where  all 
are  one  before  Him,  the  Universal  Father. 

Therefore  Christians  agree  in  accepting  the  church 
as  the  brotherhood  of  believers. 

And  again :  the  creed  of  Christendom  includes  the 
same  moral  law,  —  the  same  conceptions  of  duty,  right, 
honesty,  purity,  truth,  generosity,  patience,  forbearance, 
forgiveness,  temperance,  sobriety,  love  to  God,  and  love 
to  man. 


304  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

There  has  never  been  a  denomination  founded  on 
any  new  ideas  concerning  right  and  wrong.  There 
has  never  been  any  one  which  denounced  another  as 
infidel  because  it  disbelieved  the  golden  rule.  There 
has  never  been  any  bitter  theological  controversy  about 
the  meaning  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  No  church 
has  ever  e.^communicated  its  members  for  rejecting  the 
ten  commandments.  Bigotry  has  always  consisted  in 
believing  more  than  others,  never  in  doing  more  than 
others.  The  creed  of  Christendom  has  always  con- 
tained, as  its  essence,  love  to  God  and  love  to  mam 

The  creed  of  Christendom  also  includes  a  belief  in 
immortality  and  the  future  life. 

What  sect  or  party  among  Christians  does  not  accept 
this  and  cling  to  it?  They  differ  as  to  the  circum- 
stances of  resurrection,  judgment,  heaven,  and  hell. 
Some  insist  that  we  shall  rise  again  in  the  same  mate- 
rial body  ;  others  that  we  shall  rise  in  a  spiritual  body. 
Some  thipk  the  judgment  of  Christ  is  to  be  in  ong  place 
and  at  one  time  ;  others  that  it  is  a  perpetual  judgment, 
taking  place  now,  and  to  take  place  more  fully  here- 
after. Some  believe  heaven  and  hell  divided  by  physi- 
cal barriers,  and  each  to  be  a  sort  of  receptacle,  a  place 
into  which  souls  are  to  be  put.  Others  believe  heaven 
to  be  the  state  of  the  soul,  —  a  state  of  love,  peace,  and 
joy  in  God  ;  and  hell  a  state  of  the  soul,  —  selfishness 
and  falsehood  and  bitter  hatred.  But  all  believe  in 
immortality,  resurrection,  heaven,  and  hell. 

Again :  there  are  different  ways  of  believing  in  the 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  305 

atonement  of  Jesus ;  but  all  Christians  believe  that 
Jesus  has  in  some  way  brought  the  soul  to  God. 

One  view  assumes  that  it  was  necessary  t!iat  Christ 
sliould  die,  in  order  to  produce  an  effect  on  God.  He 
died  to  satisfy  the  wrath  of  God,  or  the  holiness  of  God, 
or  the  justice  of  God,  or  the  moral  government  of  God. 
He  died  to  reconcile  two  attributes  in  the  divine  na- 
ture ;  to  enable  God  to  be  just,  and  merciful  too.  God 
wished  to  pardon,  but  could  not  do  it  because  his  jus- 
tice required  him  to  punish  some  one.  Christ  said, 
"  Punish  me,  and  pardon  them."  God  did  this,  and  so 
was  able  to  pardon  without  violating  any  principle  of 
justice.  It  was  a  supernatural  transaction,  something 
taking  place  in  the  transcendental  world.  This  is  one 
view  of  the  atonement. 

Another  view  is,  that  Christ  died  to  reconcile  man 
to  God,  not  to  reconcile  God  to  man.  He  died  to  bring 
us  to  God,  not  to  bring  God  to  us.  The  effect  of  his 
death,  as  of  his  life,  was  wrought  on  the  human  soul. 
He  came  to  make  us  see  the  infinite  tenderness,  the  in- 
finite pity,  of  our  heavenly  Father  ;  to  make  us  see  that 
he  cares  for  us  more  than  we  care  for  ourselves.  He 
makes  atonement,  by  making  man  and  God  one ;  by 
making  the  church  one  ;  by  making  nations,  races, 
classes  one  ;  by  doing  away  with  war,  tyranny,  slavery, 
envy,  jealousy,  and  all  uncharitableness.  It  is  no 
transaction  in  the  supernatural  world,  but  one  which 
takes  place  here  in  time.  Whenever  two  who  were 
divided  are  reconciled  by  the  gospel ;  whenever   the 


3o6  STEPS   OF   BELIEF. 

proud  become  humble,  and  the  lowly  courageous, 
Jesus  makes  atonement.  The  atonement  of  Christ 
is  universal  reconciliation,  proceeding  from  a  revela- 
tion of  God's  love.  That  is  the  view  of  the  atonement, 
according  to  some  thinkers.  But  all  Christians  believe 
in  the  atoning,  or  unity-making  power  of  Christ  and 
his  gospel. 

Once  more :  there  are  different  ways  of  regarding 
salvation  by  Christ,  but  all  Christians  believe  in  some 
Christian  salvation. 

One  view  considers  salvation  as  the  rescue  of  the 
soul  from  future  suffering,  from  a  future  hell.  Jesus 
has  paid  our  debt :  we  can  now  be  saved  by  believing 
in  him.  It  is  a  future  salvation.  It  is  escape  from 
future  punishment.     This  is  one  view. 

The  other  view  regards  punishment,  in  this  world 
and  the  next,  as  the  natural  consequence  of  wrong- 
doing ;  as  something  fixed  in  the  very  laws  of  nature, 
something  which  cannot  be  avoided  by  any  expedient, 
and  something  which  it  is  good  for  us  to  endure.  The 
object  of  punishment  is  to  purify  and  improve.  It 
takes  place  here,  and  will  take  place  hereafter.  There 
is  no  use  in  trying  to  escape  it ;  it  is  inevitable. 
Salvation  does  not  consist,  therefore,  in  removing  pun- 
ishment. It  is  rescue  from  sin.  Jesus  saves  us  by 
giving  us  a  new  heart ;  teaching  us  to  love  what  is 
good ;  putting  a  new  life  into  us,  by  which  we  can 
rise  above  ourselves ;  bringing  us  into  communion 
with   God   and   heaven.     He    is   not  a  futui-e,  but  a 


FROM   THE   LETTER   TO    THE   SPIRIT.  307 

present  Saviour.  He  gives  lieaven  here,  the  beginning 
of  heaven  hereafter.  Whenever  a  man,  woman,  or 
child,  malces  a  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  truth,  he  enters 
into  heaven.  Wlienever  we  are  able  to  trust  God,  and 
talk  with  him  as  a  friend,  we  go  into  heaven.  When- 
ever we  love  Jesus,  and  try  to  do  his  work  in  the 
world,  and  help  his  little  ones,  we  are  sitting  in  heav- 
enly places  with  him.  Jesus  saves  us  by  inspiring  us 
with  faith,  hope,  courage  ;  by  making  us  love  our 
fellow-creatures,  as  God  loves  them.  He  saves  us,  not 
from  any  outward  hell,  but  the  hell  of  our  own  pas- 
sions, our  ungovernable  desires,  our  cold  hearts,  our 
bitter  jealousy,  our  folly,  recklessness,  insincerity.  He 
saves  us  by  giving  us  the  love  of  truth,  purity,  good- 
ness. This  is  the  view  of  Christ's  salvation,  according 
to  many  Christians.  But  all  Christians  believe  in  some 
salvation  through  Christ. 

Thus  are  we  all  baptized  into  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which 
has  been  made  a  narrow,  unintelligible,  and  exclusive 
formula,  is  one  day,  in  a  larger  form,  to  be  recognized 
as  the  most  inclusive  of  all  doctrines ;  the  fullest  state- 
ment of  the  length,  breadth,  depth,  and  height  of  the 
divine  Pleroma,  the  fulness  of  him  who  filleth  all 
in  all.  It  will  include  the  past,  the  present,  and  the 
future.  When  we  say,  "  We  believe  in  the  Father," 
we  include  in  that  statement  the  declaration  that  what- 
ever God  has  made  is  divine.  The  whole  past  is 
divine.     There   is   a   sacred   meaning   in   all   nature, 


308  STEPS    OF    BELIEF. 

science,  history.  God  is  in  all  that  has  ever  been, 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  He  has  inspired 
all  the  prophets  of  all  religions  ;  he  has  fed  the  souls 
of  his  children  in  all  lands  and  climes ;  he  has  disin- 
herited none.     He  is  the  universal  Father. 

And  w^hen  we  truly  sa}',  "  We  believe  in  the  Son," 
we  shall  accept  every  form  of  human  nature  as  a  part 
of  the  universal  church  of  Christ.  Jesus,  as  the  Son, 
is  to  bring  all  men  to  his  Father.  Christ  is  to  be  the 
great  atonement,  leading  all  souls  to  God.  Every 
human  being  is  a  son  of  God,  all  are  loved  by  him  ; 
he  wishes  all  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth.  As  God  the  Father  is  in  nature 
and  history,  so  through  the  Son  he  descends  into 
humanity,  and  unites  himself  with  mankind.  None 
so  poor,  low,  ignorant,  as  not  to  have  a  share  in  this 
redeeming  love.  God,  who  as  the  Creator  and  Father 
has  been  in  all  the  past,  as  the  Son  is  in  the  present  life 
of  mankind,  is  with  us  now  and  here  ;  so  that  now  is 
the  accepted  time,  and  now  is  the  way  of  salvation. 

And  when  we  say  that  "  we  believe  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  we  announce  the  great  hope  for  the  future. 
All  is  to  come  right  at  last.  Evil  is  to  be  overcome  by 
good.  Progress  is  the  law  of  the  universe,  and  prog- 
ress will  never  end. 

When  Jesus  first  told  his  disciples  of  the  coming  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  it  was  in  these  words  :  — 

'■^  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  yo7t;  but  you  cannot 
bear  thevi  now.  But  when  that  spirit  of  truth  shall  come, 
it  shall  lead  you  into  all  truth!'' 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  309 

The  Holy  Spirit,  therefore,  comes  to  complete  rev- 
elation. It  fulfils  what  is  in  the  four  Gospels.  It 
emancipates  us  from  the  letter  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  carries  out  its  divine  spirit  more  fully.  It  makes 
Christianit}'^  not  a  stationary  creed,  but  a  progressive 
religion.  It  enables  it  to  accept  the  valuable  results 
of  science,  of  heathen  religion,  and  heathen  philos- 
ophy, all  that  God  has  taught  in  other  ways  to  his 
children.  It  makes  Christianity  an  advancing  religion, 
always  abi^east  with  the  age ;  only  a  little  before  it,  its 
leader  and  guide. 

I  cannot  think  that  this  dead  formula  of  the  Trinity  is 
allowed  to  remain  for  nothing.  I  think  it  has  a  better 
meaning  than  those  perhaps  know  who  hold  it.  To 
me  it  means  universal  unity  ;  Christianity  showing 
us  God  in  all  things,  —  in  nature,  life,  history,  man- 
kind, the  present,  and  the  future. 

This  view  of  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  confounds  and 
confutes  all  narrowness,  —  the  narrowness  of  the  sci 
ence  which  rejects  Christianity,  and  the  narrowness 
of  the  Christianity  which  rejects  science.  It  rebukes 
the  narrowness  of  that  sectarianism  which  rejects  the 
universal  church  of  human  brotherhood ;  the  narrow- 
ness of  that  conservatism  which  rejects  every  coming 
reform  ;  and  also  the  narrowness  of  reformers  who 
reject  and  neglect  the  great  history  of  the  past. 

We  worship  God  the  Father,  through  the  Son,  and 
in  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  One  God,  the  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  us  all." 


3IO  STEPS    OF   BELIEF. 

"  One  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,"  who  is  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life.  He  is  the  door  through  which  we 
enter  on  our  upward  way ;  tlie  bread  which  feeds 
our  life  ;  the  lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  ;  showing  us  how  God  comes  to  dwell  among 
men,  and  to  save  all  his  children. 

And  "  one  Holy  Spirit,"  the  spirit  of  holiness,  in 
which  we  walk,  speak,  live  ;  which  shows  us  better 
things  to-day  than  we  knew  yesterday ;  which  turns 
Christian  belief  into  Christian  experience ;  which 
makes  us  live  Christianity,  and  not  merely  talk  it 
or  think  it.  One  Holy  Spirit,  dwelling  in  the  hearts 
of  all  good  men  and  women  and  children,  giving  to 
them  all,  all  the  good  they  have. 

Thus  this  formula  teaches  us  that  the  same  God 
who  is  above  us  is  also  the  God  who  is  with  us,  and 
the  God  who  is  in  us.  One  God,  whether  seen  in 
nature,  or  revelation,  or  life!  One  God,  whether  he 
came  in  the  past,  comes  in  the  present,  or  is  to  come 
in  the  future ! 

When  this  view  is  realized,  we  shall  have  the  true 
Communion  of  Saints,  by  which  God  shall  unite  all 
men  in  Christ,  all  men  with  each  other,  and  all  with 
himself. 

Thus  we  see  the  unities  of  Christendom :  we  see 
how  all  Christians,  no  matter  how  much  they  differ, 
are  essentially  one.  They  differ  because  they  are 
nan-ow ;  when  they  go  deeper,  and  rise  higher,  they 
come  together. 


FROM    THE    LETTER    TO    THE    SPIRIT.  3H 

For  they  all  believe  in  one  God,  one  Christ,  one 
Bible,  one  Law  of  Dut}^,  one  Church  Universal,  one 
Immortal  Life,  and  one  Holy  Spirit. 

Where  they  differ,  it  is  because  they  know  in  part, 
and  see  in  part ;  where  they  agree,  it  is  because  they 
supply  the  narrowness  of  their  creed  by  the  largeness 
of  their  love. 


Cambridge  :  Press  of  John  Wilson  &  Son. 


